SEMI-FINAL PREVIEW: With a win in the Western & Southern Open semi-finals on Saturday, World No. 6 Milos Raonic would rise above Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Rafael Nadal to reach a career-high No. 3 in the Emirates ATP Rankings. But as has been the case several times this season, Raonic must go through World No. 2 Andy Murray to achieve a major milestone.

Murray prevented Raonic from reaching his first Grand Slam final by coming back from two sets to one down in the Australian Open semis. Then, when the Canadian made it to the championship match at Wimbledon, it was the Brit who denied him a maiden major title. Even a 7-6, 3-0 lead in the London/Queen’s Club final was not enough for Raonic to overcome Murray, who has swept their last six FedEx ATP Head 2 Head encounters after losing three of their first four.

In the midst of a career-long 21-match unbeaten run, Murray could claim the 19th consecutive ATP Masters 1000 title for a member of the ‘Big Four.’ In addition, 33 straight ATP Masters 1000 finals have featured Murray, Federer, Nadal or Novak Djokovic. Keeping those streaks alive would also help Murray inch closer to Djokovic in the race to finish the 2016 season as World No. 1. Murray, who has spent seven stints and 65 weeks at No. 2 since 2009, would trail Djokovic by only 815 points in the Emirates ATP Race to London if he wins his third Western & Southern Open title.

World No. 34 Grigor Dimitrov meets No. 12 seed Marin Cilic in the second semi-final. Dimitrov is two wins from joining 1960 champion Miguel Olvera as the second unseeded player to win the Cincinnati title. However, he lost to Cilic in the first round of the Rio Olympics on August 6. Should he win the rematch, Dimitrov would be the lowest-ranked finalist at Cincinnati since No. 36 Mardy Fish in 2010 and at any ATP Masters 1000 event since No. 69 Jerzy Janowicz at 2012 Paris.

Like Dimitrov, Cilic is seeking a spot in his first ATP Masters 1000 final. Unlike the Bulgarian, Cilic is playing in his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final after eight quarter-final losses and 70 appearances at this level. The 71st time was the charm for Cilic, who advanced on Friday when his Davis Cup teammate Borna Coric retired with a right knee injury. Make no mistake, Cilic earned his semi-final berth. The 2014 US Open champion has won 90% of his first-serve points this week (100 of 111).

The doubles semi-finals feature five-time champions Bob and Mike Bryan against the players who ended their six-year reign atop the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings: 2015 year-end World No. 1s Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau. The Bryans lost their most recent meeting in the semi-finals of the 2015 Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. In Saturday’s other semi-final, ATP Masters 1000 Toronto champions Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo take on Canadians Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil. Nestor is the defending Cincinnati champion with Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

FEDEX ATP HEAD 2 HEADS – Singles Semi-finals

[1] Andy Murray (GBR) vs [4] Milos Raonic (CAN) – Murray Leads 7-3
Murray 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Became 5th active player to reach 600 wins by beating Anderson in 3R. Now 21-0 since Roland Garros and 32-1 since ATP Masters 1000 Madrid. Seeking 50th win of 2016 (50+ in 6 of last 8 seasons)
• Captured 3rd Grand Slam title at Wimbledon (d. Tsonga in 5 sets, No. 9 Berdych and No. 7 Raonic)
• Became 1st British finalist at Roland Garros and 10th man to reach all 4 major finals in Open Era (l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Fell to 0-5 in Australian Open finals with 4th championship match loss to No. 1 Djokovic
• With J. Murray, became 1st brothers in Open Era to reach singles and doubles finals at same major (Australian Open)
• Successfully defended singles gold medal at Rio Olympics (d. del Potro 75 in 4th after 4h2m)
• Celebrated 29th birthday by beating No. 1 Djokovic for 12th ATP Masters 1000 title at Rome
• Defeated No. 8 Berdych and No. 5 Nadal en route to ATP Masters 1000 Madrid final (l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Rallied from 76 30 down to beat No. 9 Raonic and become 1st 5-time London/Queen’s Club champion (est. 1890)
• Extended Davis Cup win streak to 14 matches with 3 victories to lead Great Britain past Japan 3-1 in 1R

Raonic 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Playing for 4th ATP Masters 1000 final (0-3 at 2013 Montréal, 2014 Paris, 2016 Indian Wells)
• Became 1st Canadian man and 2nd Canadian overall to reach major singles final at Wimbledon (l. to No. 2 Murray)
• En route to Wimbledon final, earned 1st win from 2 sets down to beat Goffin, then defeated No. 3 Federer in 5 sets
• Also fell to No. 2 Murray in London/Queen’s Club final after leading 76 30
• Won 1st 9 matches of season, highlighted by 8th career title at Brisbane (d. No. 3 Federer)
• Upset No. 4 Wawrinka in 5 sets en route to Australian Open SF (l. to No. 2 Murray in 5 sets)
• Played in 3rd ATP Masters 1000 final at Indian Wells (d. No. 7 Berdych, Monfils and Goffin; l. to No. 1 Djokovic)
• Reached ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Miami (l. to Kyrgios), Monte-Carlo (l. to No. 2 Murray), Madrid (l. to No. 1 Djokovic) and Toronto (l. to Monfils)
• Advanced to Roland Garros 4R (l. to Ramos-Viñolas)
• Withdrew from Delray Beach, Acapulco and Davis Cup 1R due to muscular tear sustained in Australian Open SF

[12] Marin Cilic (CRO) vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) – Cilic Leads 2-1
Cilic 2016 FastFacts 
• Advanced to 3rd straight Wimbledon QF, falling to No. 3 Federer after leading by 2 sets and holding 3 MPs
• Reached finals at Marseille (l. to Kyrgios) and Geneva (d. Ferrer, l. to No. 4 Wawrinka)
• Also reached London/Queen’s Club SF (l. to No. 2 Murray in 3 sets) and Rio Olympics 3R (l. to Monfils in 3 sets)
• Fell to 0-8 lifetime in ATP Masters 1000 QFs at Indian Wells (l. to Goffin) – now 1-8 after beating Coric on Friday
• Snapped 11-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents with win over No. 10 Gasquet in Indian Wells 4R
• Helped Croatia reach Davis Cup SF with 3-2 wins over Belgium (d. Coppejans, l. to Goffin) and USA (l. to Sock after leading by 2 sets, w/Dodig d. Bryan/Bryan, d. Isner)
• Withdrew from ATP Masters 1000 events at Monte-Carlo, Madrid and Rome due to knee injury

Dimitrov 2016 FastFacts
• Tournament Note: Attempting to become 2nd unseeded champion in Cincinnati history (Miguel Olvera in 1960)
• Held 1 MP in Sydney final (l. to Troicki 76 in 3rd) and led 76 52 in Istanbul final (l. to Schwarzman 60 in 3rd)
• Advanced to SF at Delray Beach (l. to Ram) and QFs at Brisbane (l. to No. 3 Federer in 3 sets), Acapulco (l. to Thiem) and ATP Masters 1000 Toronto (l. to No. 6 Nishikori in 3 sets)
• Reached 3R at Australian Open (l. to No. 3 Federer in 4 sets) and Wimbledon (d. Simon, l. to Johnson in 4R)
• Snapped 7-match losing streak vs. Top 10 opponents by beating No. 2 Murray in Miami 3R (l. to Monfils in 4R)
• Suffered 6-match losing streak overall from May 1 to June 27
• Fell to No. 40 in Emirates ATP Rankings on July 18 – lowest ranking since No. 41 on February 11, 2013

Emirates Airline US Open Series Bonus Challenge Standings (through Aug. 19)

Cincinnati semi-finalists listed in bold

Andy Murray extended his career-best winning streak to 21 on Friday with a convincing victory against unseeded Bernard Tomic in the Western & Southern Open quarter-finals. The top-seeded Scot prevailed 6-4, 6-4 to maintain an unbeaten 5-0 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Australian.

The two-time champion broke for 3-2 and saved a break point when serving out the opening set in 40 minutes. Both players were strong on serve throughout the second set with neither facing a break point until Tomic was broken to love for 5-4.

Murray closed it out on his first match point after one hour and 19 minutes to set up a semi-final showdown with No. 4 seed Milos Raonic.

“When the important moments came I felt like I served well when I was behind, and then as soon as I had my chance on my serve I capitalised on them,” Murray said. “That was the difference. I just played the bigger points better tonight.”

Murray was particularly impressive on serve, finishing with 10 aces and claiming 85 per cent of first-serve points.  He saved both break points faced.

The win gives the World No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Rankings a 31-1 record since losing the Mutua Madrid Open final to Novak Djokovic in May. It consigned Tomic to his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 quarter-final defeat from three contested. 

Murray will carry the confidence of a 7-3 FedEx ATP Head2Head record into his semi-final clash with Raonic. “Yeah, tough match obviously,” Murray said of facing the Canadian. “We played some important matches this year in Australia in the semis and then the Wimbledon final, Queen’s final as well.

“It’s been tight, but just managed to play a little bit better in the important moments, which is – especially playing against a big server – very important. You don’t get loads of chances. Hopefully I will do that again tomorrow.”

Fifth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau scored an upset on Friday at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, edging third seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in their quarter-final match, 4-6, 6-2, 11-9.

Little separated the two teams all the way through to the Match Tie-break. Rojer/Tecau couldn’t convert on their first match point at 9/8, but made good on their second chance to take the win.

Tecau previously claimed the Cincinnati title in 2012 (w/ Robert Lindstedt). He and Rojer won their first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title as a team this May at the Mutua Madrid Open. Next up for them is the winner of the match between second seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan and Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi.

Sixth seeds Daniel Nestor/Vasek Pospisil recorded the biggest upset of the day by defeating top seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6. The Canadians raced to a 7/2 lead in the Match Tie-break and closed out the contest on their first match point.

Nestor is making an astounding 22^nd consecutive appearance in Cincinnati. He has won this tournament five times, most recently last year with Edouard Roger-Vasselin. Pospisil finished as runner-up in 2014 (w/ Jack Sock).

In second-round action on Friday, the Bryan Brothers didn’t drop serve in defeating the French duo of Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-2, 7-5. The Americans have won five Western & Southern Open doubles titles together, most recently in 2014. Their second match of the day against Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi will take place later today.