By Chris Oddo | Thursday, October 16, 2014
Milos Raonic saw his London hopes take a blow as he bowed out to Ricardis Berankis in Moscow on Thursday.
Photo Source: Kremlin Cup
Milos Raonic, who had to pull out of last week’s Shanghai Rolex Masters due to illness, lost in his first match at the Kremlin Cup in Moscow to Ricardis Berankis of Lithuania, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
Raonic will see his slim lead over Andy Murray and David Ferrer for the last London spot shrink, as both Murray and Ferrer advanced today in Vienna.
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The top seed was broken four times by the world No. 116, and explained after the match that he wasn’t able to prepare effectively for Moscow due to his illness.
That’s no worry for Berankis, who was glad to take advantage of Raonic’s malaise to notch his first career top ten win in six tries.
"I'm really happy about the win,” Berankis said, according to ATPworldtour.com. “To beat a Top 10 player and the No. 1 seed in the tournament is a great feeling and it gives me a lot of confidence.”
Berankis will face Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarterfinals.
In other action in Moscow, third-seeded Ernests Gulbis advanced past Spain’s Daniel Gimeno-Traver, 6-3, 7-6(3), while sixth-seeded Tommy Robredo took down Filip Krajinovic, 6-3, 6-4.
Fourth-seeded Fabio Fognini was upset by Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-4, 6-2. It was Fognini’s sixth consecutive defeat since winning his first-round match at the US Open.