UPDATE 3.05pm: Big-serving Milos Raonic has pummelled 17 aces to get past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin in the second round of the Brisbane International on Thursday.
The tournament’s No.3 seed secured a break in each set and never faced a break point on his way to the 6-3 6-4 result.
It marks a more positive return to Brisbane for the Canadian who fell in his opening match on the same Show Court 1 three years ago to Grigor Dimitrov.
“I’ve put a lot of work in technically and on a lot of things, so I feel better as tennis player. I feel much stronger and fitter,” he said.
“Also spent a lot of time sort of discussing and consulting with my team about the mental side, what I need to do to make the next step forward, especially in the big events. So trying to incorporate that and see where it takes me.”
A run to at least the semifinals is now wide open for Raonic, who enjoyed his best season to date with a quarterfinal showing at the French Open before a semifinal appearance at Wimbledon.
He will play the winner of qualifier Lukasz Kubot and Australian wildcard Sam Groth in the quarterfinals.
“I didn’t see him (Groth) play against Lleyton (Hewitt), but to definitely put up that scoreline he did against Lleyton you have to play incredibly well, and more importantly compete very well,” he said.
“I will definitely take the time to watch today and see sort of what he may be doing different. Obviously the job is always, or the goal is always, for me to take care of my serve and try to create some opportunities on return and see where it goes from there.”