Milos Raonic didn’t want to be the guy who turned lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic into a big winner in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open. Kecmanovic had enjoyed a remarkable run of good fortune here. The 19-year-old Serb lost his second qualifying match but got a spot in the main draw as a lucky loser after three injured players withdrew; he had a first-round bye, won two matches, and had an easy time in the fourth round when Yoshihito Nishioka retired because of a back problem. But Canada’s Raonic, seeded No. 13, didn’t take anything for granted when he faced Kecmanovic on Thursday. “I knew it was going to be tough,” Raonic said. “I knew he had nothing to lose, and I had to be really disciplined with myself, and I’m happy I was able to follow through.” Advertisement Although he didn’t serve as well as he’d hoped, Raonic reeled off 13 aces in a 6-3, 6-4 victory and advanced to the semifinals. His opponent will be No. 7 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria, who advanced when Gael Monfils withdrew because of a left Achilles injury shortly before their scheduled quarterfinal Thursday night. A downcast Monfils addressed the crowd: “Tonight I tried to hit a little but I cannot compete,” the popular Frenchman said. “I’m sorry.” He later said he had felt discomfort in the Achilles for several days and had been treating it but an ultrasound showed an inflammation that left him no choice but to withdraw. “Very disappointing, to be honest now,” he said, “because I was playing great, playing great tennis, feeling strong.” Tournament officials, eager to pacify a crowd that had expected to see a match, asked Thiem to return. He conducted a practice on Court 1 with one of his coaches, Nicolas Massu, a singles and doubles Olympic gold medalist at the 2004 Athens Games. “Of course, it’s not fun,” Thiem said of the way he advanced. “I think it would have been a fun match.” Thiem leads their head-to-head series 4-0 and also has now advanced twice by walkover because of withdrawals by Monfils. In addition Monfils has advanced via walkover once, after Thiem withdrew before they were to face each other at Doha in 2018. Raonic took control against Kecmanovic by breaking the teenager’s serve in the fourth game. Known for his big serve, Raonic has been trying to supplement his game with some backhand slices and drop shots and was able to pull off a few against Kecmanovic. Advertisement “I did a lot of things well. I didn’t serve well, I don’t think, today,” said Raonic, whose first serve percentage was 54%. “But even when I was hitting the spots, I wasn’t hitting them that well. That’s something I’m going to spend a little bit more time on [Friday]. I think that can get better. “But there’s other things I’m doing well, for sure. As soon as I had a chance on the first forehand, I was able to find my way to be the one dictating the point. And I put a lot of returns in and gave myself a chance there. And as soon as I had the first look to get ahead, I was pretty efficient at that.” Raonic has a 2-0 career edge over Thiem. Both matches took place in 2016, on hard courts. “With Dominic, you know, you can’t give him too much time,” Raonic said. “He can do a lot of good things, get ahead in the point, and start to run you around a lot if he has time to get into a point and work it.” Advertisement Friday’s featured matches All matches at Stadium 1 Hubert Hurkacz vs. Roger Federer, 11 a.m. Not before 1:30 pm. Advertisement Karen Khachanov vs. Rafael Nadal Not before 6:30 p.m. Bianca Andreescu vs. Elina Svitolina Not before 9 p.m. Advertisement Belinda Bencic vs. Angelique Kerber helene.elliott@latimes.com Follow Helene Elliott on Twitter @helenenothelen<doc-sep>The 13th seed and 2016 Indian Wells runner-up Milos Raonic has secured the place in the semi-final for the third straight time in the desert, toppling a lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 12 minutes. The 19-year-old Serb became the first lucky loser in the quarter-final at Indian Wells although he couldn't continue his run despite a solid effort, wasting all three break points and getting broken once in each set to push the better-ranked opponent into the last four. Milos served at only 55% but he drew the most from that, firing 13 aces and delivering fury from the first serve to grab the pivotal moments and get the job done in just over 70 minutes, entering the tenth Masters 1000 semi-finals. Miomir had 14 winners and only three unforced errors, taming his shots nicely but failing to make more damage on the return and convert at least one break chance that could make the result more interesting. On the other hand, the Canadian blasted 35 winners and 15 unforced errors, dominating with serve and forehand to create the gap in the shortest rallies up to four strokes that determined the winner. The rivals decided the outcome of the opening set in the middle games, with Milos scoring a break in game four with a crosscourt forehand winner before firing three service winner in a row to erase the break point in the following game. The Canadian secured the first set with an ace in game nine in less than 30 minutes, with six good holds on both sides in set number two that kept them locked at 3-3. The course of the set changed in game seven when Milos grabbed a break with a volley winner, moving ahead and defending the advantage after saving two break points in the next game with a forehand crosscourt winner that propelled him 5-3 up. Serving for the match at 5-4, Raonic fired three great forehands and an ace to wrap the things up and book the place in the semis where he will play versus Gael Monfils or Dominic Thiem on Saturday.<doc-sep>Kecmanovic hits a hat-trick for this column After a full schedule last night involving all 16 players remaining in the competition, there are just two matches this evening, as the quarter-final stage gets underway. The remaining two men's quarter-finals are Friday night. Action takes place from 8pm UK time and after last night's retirement triumph over Yoshihito Nishioka provided us with a third successive winner from him in the last week, Miomir Kecmanovic takes to the courts again in tonight's opener. The Serbian talent faces Milos Raonic, after the Canadian got revenge over Jan-Lennard Struff for defeat in Dubai last month, and the market is convinced that this stage is where it ends for Kecmanovic. If that is the case, Kecmanovic will likely have got himself to just within the top 100, from a pre-tournament 130. This run will do him a decent favour when it comes to getting direct entry into events in the near future. I anticipate a continued rise for the 19 year old. Raonic unlikely to find matters easy tonight It's far from a given that Raonic will triumph this evening. The market has him at 1.211/5 to dispose of Kecmanovic and I make that a little short. On hard court this year, his data is pretty solid (just over 105% combined hold/break) as opposed to spectactular. However, he's underperformed on break points (based on service/return points won percentages) but has excelled in tiebreaks - it's probably fair to suggest that his win percentage is where it should be in 2019. Kecmanovic, when taking into account his 12 month Challenger data, is running at around an expected 100% combined hold/break percentage and his 2019 numbers are even more impressive - I do think that he's some value tonight. The game handicap lines are still forming on the Exchange, but I'd expect the market will offer at least 1.758/11 on Kecmanovic +4.5 games tonight, given general market lines. When priced between 1.101/10 and 1.3030/100 on hard court from 2018 onwards, Raonic has covered this line just four times in 10 events - including failing to do so in a 6-3 7-6 win over the same opponent in the last 16 in Brisbane at the start of January. Kecmanovic +4.5 games looks a solid proposition this evening. Monfils priced correctly despite head to head deficit The late match features Gael Monfils and Dominic Thiem, and strangely, Thiem has won all four of their previous meetings. In these, Monfils has struggled on serve against the Austrian, winning just over 57% of service points and holding less than 70% of the time, so there looks to be some relevance towards factoring this into any calculations. Monfils, though, is the market favourite to get his first head to head win this evening, priced at a current 1.768/11 on the Exchange and I make this about right. In the last 12 months on hard court, Thiem has held serve around 3% more, but Monfils has around a 9% edge on return, so factoring in the historical head to head to an extent as well, my model generated a price of 1.748/11 on the Frenchman. It will be interesting to see how the duo are priced against Raonic in a potential semi-final. I'd likely have Raonic as a slight underdog to Monfils, and pick-em against Thiem, but I suspect the market might be stronger towards the Canadian in these potential match-ups on Saturday. *** Follow Dan on Twitter @TennisRatings<doc-sep>Canada's Milos Raonic is heading to the round of 16 at the BNP Paribas Open after a come-from-behind victory on Monday. The No. 14 seed downed American qualifier Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a third-round match, continuing an impressive run of success for Canadians at the event. Felix Auger-Aliassime, an 18-year-old from Montreal, lost to Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 7-6 (2), 4-6, 6-7 (5) in a third-round match later Monday. Denis Shapovalov, a 19-year-old from Richmond Hill, Ont., and 18-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Mississauga, Ont., had Monday off after winning matches on Sunday. The 24th-seeded Shapovalov will face No. 10 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia in a third-round match on Tuesday, while Andreescu will square off with No. 18 seed Qiang Wang of China in a fourth-round match on the women's side. Raonic's win was the seventh in a row for Canadians in singles at the event. He will next face Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff, who upset third-seed Alex Zverev 6-3, 6-1 in the third round. WATCH | Raonic advances to round of 16 Milos Raonic advances to round of 16 at Indian Wells Sports 1:24 Canada's Milos Raonic defeats Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. 1:24 After fighting back from a first-set loss, Raonic found himself down a break at 3-0 against the 217th-ranked Giron in the third set. But the 28-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., recorded two breaks to take a 5-4 lead before serving out the match. Giron, an NCAA singles champion in 2014 while attending nearby UCLA, had the support of most of the fans at the facility's main stadium as he flirted with a major upset. Prior to this week, the 25-year-old Giron had won just one tour-level match in four main-draw attempts. The Californian's career was slowed by a hip injury in 2015, requiring surgery. Raonic had a 55-23 edge in winners, but made 14 more unforced errors than the American (31-17). The big-serving Canadian had 22 aces, compared to just three for Giron. While Raonic has plenty of experience at big events, the other Canadians are just getting their feet wet at this level. Auger-Aliassime pushed Nishioka to the limit in a three-set duel that stretched to two hours 55 minutes 49 seconds, the longest match of the young Canadian's pro career. WATCH | Andreescu defeats Stefanie Voegele: Canadian Bianca Andreescu off to 4th round at Indian Wells Sports 0:44 The 18-year-old cruised over Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland in straight sets to reach the 4th round at the Indian Wells Masters in California. 0:44 After trading sets, Nishioka took an early lead in the third before Auger-Aliassime battled back to tie it 5-5. Nisioka took a 6-5 lead before the Canadian again climbed back into the match, smashing an ace to tie it up. Auger-Aliassime, fended off three match points to keep it neck-and-neck but his forehand skimmed off the top of the net, redirecting the ball's trajectory so it landed out of bounds to give Nishioka the win. With the younger Auger-Aliassime and Andreescu both posting upsets earlier in the tournament, the 19-year-old Shapovalov has become a bit of a veteran voice for the Canadian teen trio. "To be honest, I'm not shocked [about Auger-Aliassime and Andreescu's runs]," Shapovalov told reporters Sunday. "I mean, like, I was telling everybody, it's just a matter of time until Felix and Bianca show up. They both had unbelievable games in the juniors, and I grew up with both of them. So honestly, I knew the potential they have, and I knew it's just a matter of time until they are gonna have these big results. "I'm really happy for them. They are both really good people. And hopefully we can just keep going like this to make tennis a really big sport in Canada." The tournament has taken notice, referring to the success as a "Canadian crusade" on its website. "We're all killing it. It's great," Andreescu said. "We have played so many junior tournaments together, and it's so nice to see each and every one of us at the top of our game at this stage in our life, only 18, 19, which is pretty incredible. "I think all that really contributes to our successes. We motivate each other." Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski also remains alive in the doubles draw. The fifth-seeded team of Dabrowski and Yifan Xu of China will face Darija Jurak of Croatia and Raluca Olaru of Romania in the quarterfinals.<doc-sep>
Final four: Canadian Milos Raonic is into the semi-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters with a straight-sets win over Serbian lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic Final four: Canadian Milos Raonic is into the semi-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters with a straight-sets win over Serbian lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic (AFP Photo/Yong Teck Lim) Indian Wells (United States) (AFP) - Canadian Milos Raonic made sure Miomir Kecmanovic's luck ran out on Thursday, beating the 19-year-old Serbian 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Indian Wells Masters. Raonic, ranked 14th in the world, fired 13 aces and broke Kecmanovic once in each set to keep his bid to better his 2016 runner-up finish on track. He'll face either eighth-ranked Austrian Dominic Thiem or France's world number 19 Gael Monfils for a place in the final. Kecmanovic, who failed to make it through qualifying but gained entry to the main draw when fifth-seeded Kevin Anderson withdrew, was the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells since the tournament served as the inaugural ATP Masters 1000 in 1990. Although Raonic had beaten him in their only prior encounter in Brisbane this year, he knew Kecmanovic would be eager to keep his surprise run going. "He's won his last three matches against good players," Raonic said. "So I knew he had nothing to lose, and I had to be really disciplined with myself, and I'm happy I was able to follow through." Raonic's serve wasn't at it's booming best. He put only 55 percent of his first serves in play. But when he did, he won nearly 90 percent of the points, and his serve was good enough when he needed it most. "I think that can get better," Raonic said. "But there's other things I'm doing well, for sure. As soon as I had a chance on the first forehand, I was able to find my way to be the one dictating the point. And I put a lot of returns in and gave myself a chance there." While the 130th-ranked Kecmanovic fell short in his bid to become just the third lucky loser to reach the semi-finals of a Masters 1000 event, he can regroup for the upcoming Miami Masters -- where he has been given a wild card into the main draw.