Raonic returns to SAP Open final
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Defending champion Milos Raonic made it back set win over American Ryan Harrison on Saturday.
The third-seeded Canadian will face Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan, who needed three sets to knock off No. 5 seed Julien Benneteau of France in the other semifinal.
Raonic, 21, beat Harrison 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 in just 78 minutes on the hardcourts at HP Pavillion, firing 20 aces in the match and winning 84 percent of his service points.
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He saved the only break point he faced and improved to 1-1 against the 19- year-old Harrison, who beat Raonic last year at Indian Wells.
Later, Istomin bounced back from a loss in a second set tiebreaker to down Benneteau 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 in a match that went 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Istomin, 25, fought off 10 aces and topped the Frenchman for the first time in three all-time meetings. Benneteau, 30, was 2-0 against Istomin after beating him at last year's U.S. Open.
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The winner of Sunday's final will earn $95,860.