Milos Raonic believes he is getting “better and better” at the CITI Open after beating Steve Johnson in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Raonic, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon earlier this summer, looked comfortable as he fired down 16 aces and lost just nine service points against his American opponent in a 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 victory.
The Canadian will now face Donald Young for a place in Sunday’s final after he beat seventh seed Kevin Anderson 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.
It will be Raonic’s third semi-final appearances of the season and he is confident his game is improving all the time.
Speaking after his quarter-final win, Raonic said: “I’m getting better and better. I played the right way at the end of the sets. When I got the advantage I kept the intensity.
“I’ve gotten better at knowing what I need to do. I step up in the tie-breakers and that has worked out well.”
Raonic is searching for his sixth ATP career title this weekend and is 1.16 to beat Young, who is 5.34 to pick up a surprise victory.
But Raonic knows he will not have it easy against the American.
“He’s very talented and he’s very dangerous,” Raonic added. “He defends well.”
Richard Gasquet also progressed to the semi-finals after a straight-sets victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori.
The Frenchman won 6-1 6-4 in under an hour and will now face the winner of Vasek Pospisil and Santiago Giraldo, whose quarter-final clash was suspended due to rain two points into the third set.
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