Raonic blazes past Robredo into St. Petersburg semifinal

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) Canada's Milos Raonic took just 53 minutes to demolish Tommy Robredo 6-1, 6-2 and reach the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open on Friday.

Raonic, the second seed and top-ranked player left in the draw, won almost twice as many points as his fifth-seeded Spanish opponent, hitting 10 aces in a one-sided match.

In Saturday's semifinal, Raonic will face another Spanish player, the fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who earlier Friday saw off France's Lucas Pouille 6-2, 6-3.

In the other semifinal, Austrian third seed Dominic Thiem will take on seventh-seeded Portuguese player Joao Sousa after they won their respective quarterfinals earlier Friday. Thiem beat Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 6-2, 7-5, and Sousa won 7-6 (7), 7-6 (1) against Italy's Simone Bolelli.