Ramos-Vinolas Defeats Milos Raonic to Reach His First-Ever Grand Slam Quarterfinal

Albert Ramos-Vinolas continues his upsetting ways…

The 28-year-old Spanish tennis player, who ousted No. 23 seed Jack Sock in the third round, emphatically defeated No. 8 seed Milos Raonic in the fourth round at the French Open.

Albert Ramos-Vinolas

Ramos-Vinolas, who advances to his first-ever Grand Slam quarterfinal, beat the Canadian in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

The 55th-ranked player had never made it past the second round in his 18 previous Grand Slam tournament appearances. It’s only the second time he has beaten a top 10 player.

Cool and very cloudy weather appeared to take some bite out of Raonic’s serve. The quarterfinalist at Roland Garros in 2014 and semifinalist at this year’s Australian Open also complained of an aching left hip in his previous match.

Ramos-Vinolas earned the victory with aggressive shot-making and some terrific defensive play. He broke Raonic five times and only lost serve once himself, saving 6 of 7 break points.

“I have no words to explain how I feel,” he said. “It was four years in a row losing in the first round.”

Raonic beckoned over the chair umpire in the last game to inspect a shot that gave Ramos-Vinolas two match points. She ruled it in, pointing out that the ball had nicked the line.

The Spaniard couldn’t capitalize on either of those match points. But he made no mistake with his third match point, earned with an ace served out wide, sealing the win in 2 hours, 20 minutes with a smash.

Ramos-Vinolas, who celebrated his win by firing a spare ball into the air in delight, will next face No. 3 seed Stan Wawrinka.

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