Raonic downs Haas in straight sets, advances to third round at Italian Open

ROME – Canada’s Milos Raonic advanced to the third round of the Italian Open with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany’s Tommy Haas on Wednesday.

Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., used his dominant serve to dispatch Haas in a little over an hour. Raonic lost only 13 service points while firing 10 aces past the 39-year-old veteran and saving both break points he faced.

Raonic, seeded fifth in Rome, will face 12th-seed Tomas Berdych in third-round action Thursday.

The 26-year-old Raonic has won four of his last six games against the Czech veteran, but Berdych took their last clay-court match in Monte Carlo in 2015.

Raonic is 5-2 this season on clay, and advanced to his first final on this surface two weeks ago in Istanbul.