Canada’s Raonic downs Stebe to advance to quarterfinals at Delray Beach

DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – Canada’s Milos Raonic downed Germany’s Cedrik-Marcel Stebe 7-5, 6-3 on Thursday to advance to the quarterfinals of the Delray Beach Open.

Raonic, ranked No. 37 and seeded second at the tournament, fired 11 aces to Stebe’s five and won 78 per cent of his first-serve points.

The Thornhill, Ont., product saved all three break points he faced and converted on 2 of 4 to beat his 147th-ranked opponent.

The match took one hour 37 minutes.

Raonic will face Steve Johnson in the quarterfinals of the ATP 250 tournament Friday. Johnson beat wild card Jack Sock 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 earlier in the day.

Also Thursday, Frances Tiafoe advanced to his first ATP Tour quarterfinal this year by beating fellow American Tommy Paul 7-5, 7-6 (4).

Raonic made the final at Delray Beach against Sock in 2017, but the Canadian withdrew with a hamstring tear in his right leg before the match.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 20, 2020.

— With files from The Associated Press