No Dip for Raonic Despite Flu

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Milos Raonic took care of a very tough customer in straight sets today, a victory that was made all the more remarkable by the Canadian’s post-match admission that he’s been suffering from a flu.

Pics: Day 3 Photo Gallery, Featuring Federer, Murray, Kerber and More

After his 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(4) victory over Gilles Muller, Raonic told reporters that he’s been a little down and out physically for two days now.

“I started feeling a little bit of a cough, but I didn't think much of it, two days ago after my match, right before bed,” Raonic said. “Yesterday I was okay. I practiced normally and everything. I thought, Okay, maybe I'm on the way up from this. Then this morning, I felt pretty bad waking up. Didn't warm up much. Just came out with the sort of idea of put everything into the match, try to solve it, understand the importance of the mental side of things in that situation.”

None of it kept Raonic from squelching the attacking game of Muller with a steady, focused effort on Day 4. Raonic hit 21 aces and saved all four break points he faced. He only won 84 percent of his first-serve points but was clutch when he had to be, closing off Muller in a third-set tiebreaker to complete his mission in one hour and 59 minutes.

He’ll face Gilles Simon in the third round. Raonic has taken the Frenchman in three of four meetings, but Simon won their last match in 2015.

“I know a lot about his game,” Raonic said. “I've watched him play a lot. I've played him in quite a few important matches. He's going to be there really trying to get me to play at his speed, his rhythm. Obviously he tries to slow things down, play low. I won't have the opportunity to get too many swings at many shots. I've got to serve well and I've got to be aggressive and I've got to take it to him. The last thing I want to do is get into this sort of game of playing long rallies with him.”

Especially when you’ve got the flu. Raonic says he’s doing everything he can to chase the bug from his system. What’s he taking? “Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, something to protect my stomach,” he says.

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