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The players will have to take advantage of any chance that comes their way

This is an encounter between two of the better players on serve in today's game. Since this is going to be played on a fast indoor surface, it's pretty clear what lies ahead. So far both of them have been serving well in this tournament, and a close fought match with very little opportunities against serve is to be expected

After a very succesful American tour, during which he regained his form and briefly went into the Top 10 for the first time, Raonic was up against a new challenge in completely different conditions. His Canada team faced Serbia in the Davis Cup semi-finals. The matches were played on indoor clay courts, which don't suit Raonic all that well. However, he played well and won a tie against Tipsarevic, but Canada was unable to beat Serbia in the end.

After that he had stated that his collaboration with new coach Ljubicic had done him good and that he is pleased with his progress. Then he embarked on his Asian tour. So in a short span of time he has been to three continents and played on three different surfaces, since this tournament is played on indoor hard courts. These conditions are certainly more to his liking, although he did not show it during the first round match.

In that encounter Matosevic had a very good performance and the Australian even had two wins from the three matches they played against each other. Every one of those matches was close, with very little broken serves. So the first set went to a tie break, which the Canadian won deservedly, since he showed a bit more initiative, which continued to be the case for the rest of the match. That initiative brought about break points for Raonic but he had problems converting them, which almost cost him in the end. In the second set, he missed out on all four of his break points, while Matosevic converted his only break point to take the match into the third set. In the final set Raonic managed to fight his way to nine more break points, until he finally managed to break serve, which was enough to win the match since he didn't allow a single break point against his serve in the set.

- I created my opportunities, but I wasn't converting any. He was playing so well on a lot of break points, and a few I didn't play well. I just kept plugging away and finally broke him - said Raonic, who was great on serve once again, scoring 21 aces and winning 90% of the points after his first serve.

Lopez, Raonic's next opponent, has been brilliant on serve in this tournament as well. The left-handed Spaniard lost only nine points on his serve in his first round match against Djere, and he didn't allow a single break point. He went on to serve very well in his match against qualifier Soeda too.

However, he wasn't that great at the start of the match and the Japanese player took advantage and broke serve. Still, Soeda wasn't able to win the set. He buckled while serving at 5-3, and that was the beginning of the turnaround. Lopez looked better and better on court and won the first set after a tiebreak, only to routinely wrap up the match in the second set. The Spaniard had 14 aces in the end and won 78% of the points after his first serve.

- I am very happy with the way I came back to win, and with reaching the quarter-finals - tweeted Lopez briefly after the match.

Lopez and Raonic surely know each other games very well since they met in the US Open just a few weeks ago. That was an expectedly close match, with very little opportunities for the player returning serve, especially in the beginning. Later on the Canadian managed to be more agressive on the return. In the end he won, tying the score between them to 1-1.

This is a match of two players that are both top 5 in world judging by their serve. The match is played in fast indoor conditions, and chances on the return should be rare. Especially in the beginning of the game until they find their rhythm on the return, which is not their forte. Raonic served 21 aces against Matosevic and had 90 percent of first serve points won. But he struggled on the return and only managed to break serve once. Lopez, on the other hand, after beating Djere defeated Go Soeda, and only allowed one break point, had 14 aces and 78 percent of first percent serve. It is obvious that both of them have a good serve, and the number of breaks is a good bet. Especially if we take into account that their last match at the USO, it would be a shame not to take this bet.