RAONIC TAKES OUT BLAKE

Milos Raonic continued to make his mark early in the 2011 ATP World Tour season, reaching the quarter-finals at the SAP Open with a  6-2, 7-6(4) win over former World No. 4 James Blake on Wednesday in San Jose.

Raonic was unable to serve out the match after going up a break at 5-4, but pulled through in the tie-break to secure victory in 70 minutes. He won 91 per cent of his first serve points and put 13 aces past the 31-year-old Blake, who was contesting his first tournament since October.

The 84th-ranked Canadian is through to his second tour-level quarter-final, first reaching this stage in September at Kuala Lumpur. He made an impressive run last month at the Australian Open, reaching the fourth round as a qualifier with his first Top 10 win against Mikhail Youzhny.