Milos Raonic’s run at the Thailand Open came to an end Friday as the Thornhill, Ont. native lost 6-3, 7-6 (3) to Finland’s Jarkko Nieminen in the quarter-finals.
The 31-year-old Canadian was seeded third in the tournament but was upset by the 2010 finalist in just over 90 minutes.
Raonic, who beat Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to advance to the quarter-finals, explained his defeat to the Canadian Press.
“He played pretty much better than I did,” Raonic said. “I was not doing things right and he was executing his game plan,”
“He made me hesitate a lot and managed a lot of good shots.”
Currently ranked a career-best 15th on the ATP tour, Raonic now takes his tour of Asia to next week’s Rauketen Open in Tokyo.
“Hopefully next week in Tokyo I can make some progress and play better and better each day,” he said.
The Rauketen Open begins on Monday.