UPDATE 2pm: Just two Australians remain in the Brisbane International after Canadian third seed Milos Raonic held out Sam Groth in their quarterfinal on Friday.
World No.8 Raonic dug deep to claim a 7-6 (5) 3-6 7-6 (2) victory at Pat Rafter Arena in two hours.
World No.85 Groth may have been ranked 77 places lower than the big-serving Montenegro-born Canadian but the 27-year-old did not look outclassed in an encouraging sign ahead of the Australian Open.
Groth’s monster serve was once again his big weapon against fellow big-hitter Raonic.
The Australian did not have his serve broken once in the quarterfinal shootout, which featured a total of 37 aces, including 22 to the Victorian.
In his second straight Brisbane quarterfinal appearance, Groth gave Raonic plenty to think about after breaking in the second game of the second set and clinching it by thrashing 15 winners and seven aces.
But the shock first-round victor over defending champion Lleyton Hewitt was denied his biggest scalp yet when Raonic closed out the third set tiebreak 7-2.
Raonic’s booming serve inspired a breakthrough 2014 in which he made the Wimbledon semifinals and French Open quarters.
He served the second most aces on tour last year – 1107 of them – but still looked to improve it in the off-season.
> Watch match highlights here (only available in Australia):