Day 12 of the Australian Open: Murray vs Raonic semifinal
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) Andy Murray plays in his sixth Australian Open semifinal in seven years on Friday against Milos Raonic, who is into his first. Based on current form by both players, it should be a good one.
The two play a Rod Laver Arena night match to earn the right to take on Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final. On Thursday, Djokovic beat Roger Federer 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to advance to his sixth Australian Open final, and he's won his previous five.
Murray comes into the semifinal having just dropped two sets through five matches, while Raonic beat Federer in the Brisbane International final and French Open champion Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals here.
Here's a look at the Murray-Raonic match-up, along with some details on the women's doubles final which will precede the semi on Friday:
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HEAD TO HEAD: The pair have split six matches, although Murray beat Raonic the only time they've met in a Grand Slam at the 2012 U.S. Open, when he won in straight sets in the fourth round. They last met at the Madrid Masters in 2015 when Murray won in straight sets, as he had at the ATP World Tour finals in 2014. Raonic's last victory over Murray came at Indian Wells in 2014.
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RAONIC ON MURRAY: ''As much as I look back on it, even before I went on court today, I was paying attention to what he was doing. Because far from where we were 14 months ago, we're both very different and I think improved players from then. So I have certain aspects that I would like to manipulate and use my game in, and I'm sure he's going to try to do a lot of different things, too. I think it's going to be a race to who can get in the comfort zone of themselves first.''
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MURRAY ON RAONIC: ''It's been a very good start to the year (for him). We're only a couple of tournaments in and it's a long, long year. He was unfortunate last year with some injuries. Had a few physical issues. I played him in Madrid and he was struggling a little bit there. Then I think he had the surgery on his foot and missed the French ... He's obviously fit and healthy now and playing well.''
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BROTHER ACT: Murray and older brother Jamie are bidding to become the first brothers in the Open era to reach men's finals at the same Grand Slam tournament. Jamie Murray is already into the doubles final - he and Bruno Soares will play Daniel Nestor and Radek Stepanek for the championship on Saturday.
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CANADIAN CONNECTION: Raonic is attempting to become the first Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam final. Eugenie Bouchard became the first female from Canada to make a major final when she played - and lost - the 2014 Wimbledon final to Petra Kvitova. Raonic made his only previous major semifinal in the same tournament, losing to Roger Federer.
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HINGIS, MIRZA FAVORED IN DOUBLES FINAL: The No. 1-ranked team of Martina Hingis and Sania Mirza, who play Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the final, are two for two as a pair in Grand Slam finals, having won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year. They are on a 35-match winning streak, the third-best in WTA history, and opened the season with a win at the Brisbane International. They started playing together at Indian Wells last year and have made 10 finals. Hingis is a three-time doubles champion at the Australian Open. Hlavackova and Hradecka are 2-2 in Grand Slam doubles finals and this is their first Australian title opportunity. They've won major doubles titles at the 2011 French Open and 2013 U.S. Open.
