By Chris Oddo | Friday September 25, 2015
Dominic Thiem reached his 5th semifinal of 2015 with a win over Denis Istomin, while Milos Raonic knocked off Tommy Robredo for the fifth straight time on Friday in St. Petersburg.
Photo Source: St. Petersburg Open
Milos Raonic reached his first semifinal in nearly six months with a straight-set dismantling of Tommy Robredo in St. Petersburg, joining Dominic Thiem in the final four.
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The bomb-serving Canadian, plagued by a foot injury and related surgery this spring, has played a full schedule since the grass season, but wins and full fitness have proven hard to come by.
Raonic managed only third-round performances at Wimbledon and the US Open, and was bounced in his opening matches at Montreal and Cincinnati.
Seeded second in St. Petersburg, the 24-year-old eased past Evgeny Donskoy on Thursday before drubbing Robredo for the fifth time in five career matches on Friday. The World No. 9 tossed in 11 aces and saved the only break point he faced against Robredo, who was broken on each of the four break points he faced.
Raonic has held in all 18 service games in St. Petersburg and will face fourth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut in the semifinals. The Spaniard, who saved three match points to defeat Teymuraz Gabashvili in Thursday, eased past Frenchman Lucas Pouille, 6-2, 6-3.
In the top half of the draw, third-seeded Thiem defeated Denis Istomin in straight sets, breaking three times on 12 opportunities and saving the only break point he faced. The 22-year-old improved his career-best match win total to 33—his previous best was 22 in 2014. Thiem has three titles this season which leaves him in a five-way tie for fourth on the ATP list (Nadal, Nishikori, Ferrer, Wawrinka).
Thiem will face 7th-seeded Joao Sousa of Portugal in the semis. Sousa defeated Simone Bolelli, 7-6(7), 7-6(1) on Friday.
Thiem is 3-0 lifetime vs. Sousa, including a straight-sets victory in the Umag final this summer.