Milos Raonic remained on course for a maiden Grand Slam title with a four-set victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in the Australian Open fourth round.
Raonic held his nerve to claim a 7-6 3-6 6-4 6-1 victory over the 13th seeded Spaniard and a place in his sixth career Grand Slam quarter-final.
The 26-year-old was beaten by Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final last year and also in the last four at Melbourne Park but with the world No 1 joining world No 2 Novak Djokovic in bowing out early, the main threats to Raonic have slipped away.
The Canadian world No 3 is the highest ranked player left in the men’s event and after surviving a wobble in the second set, he came through to set up a quarter-final showdown with either Rafael Nadal or Gael Monfils.
Raonic edged an evenly contested first set thanks to a tie-break, but Bautista Agut battled back to claim the second and had crucial chances to break serve in the third.
But …