In a battle between two of the biggest serves in men's tennis, John Isner got the best of Milos Raonic.
Isner eliminated Raonic in front of the Canadian's hometown crowd by winning 7-6 (9), 6-4 in the quarter-finals at the Rogers Cup men's tournament Friday.
"I knew eventually I would cross paths with him," said Isner, who had never played Raonic before. "I knew the match was going to be super-close. Any time you have two players who serve like we do, it wasn't going to be much that separated us."
Raonic, from nearby Thornhill, Ont., was the last Canadian in the singles draw and hadn't played since Tuesday's second-round win over Viktor Troicki. He earned a walkover win to the quarters when Andy Murray pulled out with a injury and was looking to become the first Canadian since 1969 to reach the tournament's semifinals.
"It's disappointing in a lot of ways," said Raonic. "I don't think it's disappointing that I lost at home, but disappointing that I lost in general and playing the way I [did].
"For me it's about playing well every week. I play tennis for myself. I love the support I get, but I'm frustrated with myself. Not because I played poorly in Toronto, but because I played poorly today."
Isner was playing in his second match of the day after advancing earlier in the evening with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-4 victory over German Phillipp Kohlschreiber in a match that took just under two hours.
"The way I looked at it, I was at a bit of an advantage in my opinion," said Isner.
"He hadn't played in a few days and I just played a match earlier. He was a little fresher, but I was little more in tune."
Top seed Novak Djokovic, Janko Tipsarevic, also from Serbia, and Richard Gasquet of France each advanced to the semifinals after playing their second match of the day.
