«I did a lot of things really well. I had the idea of how I wanted to play and I was happy I could execute and sort of live up to that,» Raonic said.

As a reward, Raonic will get an opportunity to do something he hasn’t yet been able to accomplish in his career: beat Novak Djokovic.

Raonic serves up clinic

The defending Australian Open champion defeated No. 14 seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 later Sunday to set up a showdown with Raonic in the quarters. Djokovic has a 9-0 career record against the big-serving Canadian.

Cilic, part of Raonic’s generation of players and also a mainstay in the top 10 for many years, has struggled over the last 12 months and watched his ranking tumble out of the top 30.

The 2014 US Open champion was hampered by a lower back issue Sunday, exacerbated by the four hours and 10 minutes he needed to upset No. 9 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the previous round.

But there wasn’t a lot he could do as Raonic put on another serving clinic.

The Canadian fired 35 aces, bring his total through four matches to 82. No one has broken his serve, and only two opponents have even had opportunities. Chile’s Cristian Garin went 0-for-3 in the second round; Cilic went 0-for-4 on Sunday.

Djokovic readies for Canuck’s missiles

Against Djokovic, five of the nine meetings have gone three sets. But only one of those has come in the last five years.

«I’m going to have to serve well, clearly. And then I think I’m going to have to get my return at a high percentage, make him play a lot of those points, and then try to be efficient on my service games,» Raonic said.

During his on-court interview after the victory over Schwartzman, Djokovic echoed similar sentiments.

«One of the key elements will be how well I’m returning, and how confident I am on my service games,» Djokovic said. «I’m really glad to see Milos healthy and playing on a really good level again. He’s a great guy, we speak the same language, and I’m glad to see him in the quarters.»

Kvitova rallies into quarters

On the women’s side, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova became the first player to advance to the quarter-finals. She rallied from a set and a break down to win 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-2 over Maria Sakkari. She’ll next play either top-ranked Ash Barty or Alison Riske.

Kenin sees off Coco

Sofia Kenin has beaten 15-year-old Coco Gauff 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals of a major for the first time.

The No. 14-seeded Kenin got early service breaks in all three sets, including the first game of the match against Gauff, who took out defending champion Naomi Osaka in the third round and seven-time major winner Venus Williams in the first.

Kenin will next play Ons Jabeur of Tunisia who advanced after defeating No. 27 seed Wang Qiang.

Dabrowski advances in doubles

Meanwhile, Ottawa’s Gabriela Dabrowski and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia advanced to the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles tournament. The No.6 seeded duo defeated American Hayley Carter and Luisa Stefani of Brazil 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 in the third round on Sunday.

By reaching the quarters, the 27-year-old Canadian matches her best result in women’s doubles at the Australian Open.

In her only previous quarter-final appearance in Melbourne back in 2018, Dabrowski and former partner Yifan Xu of China fell to the eventual runner-ups — Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina.

Dabrowski, currently ranked eighth in the world in doubles, has a new partner in Ostapenko for the opening Grand Slam of the year. She split with Xu after last season.

Dabrowski and Xu’s best result at a Grand Slam was a runner-up showing at last year’s Wimbledon.