Raonic serves up his best in Brisbane

With a big grin on his face Milos Raonic couldn’t quite believe the level he delivered in a thrilling 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory over Rafael Nadal in the Brisbane International quarter-finals.

Having booked his ticket into the final four the Canadian was asked whether he could play any better, to which he responded: “It would definitely be difficult.”

A booming serve may have been the difference in Raonic’s Friday night triumph but the world No.3 considered a new zen-like mental state as his biggest weapon having prevailed over the 14-time grand slam winner.

The 2016 Wimbledon finalist fired down an intimidating 23 aces to world No.9 Nadal’s four and also rattled off 50 winners to earn a Saturday semi-final with seventh seed Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria.

Raonic looked like he was meditating in between games at Pat Rafter Arena as he sat court-side with his eyes closed for extended periods.

“Oh, it’s just breathing to be honest with you, and focusing on what I need to do in that moment,” said the top seed.

“(But) I think today the mentality behind the match was what sort of kept me around.

“It’s something that I have paid attention to over the last seven months or so. That kept me around. That’s what I have to be most proud of.”

Nadal, 30, may have been ranked lower than top seed Raonic but was the quarter-final favourite after rattling off a total of five wins in the past week in tournaments in Abu Dhabi and Brisbane.

And he looked every bit the man to beat after he broke in the fifth game, taking the first set in 51 minutes.

Raonic hit back in the second, breaking in the eighth game to claim the set in 46 minutes.

He then broke Nadal in the first game of the third set with a booming forehand winner and didn’t look back, clinching his first win over Nadal in almost two years.

Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Dimitrov upset world No.8 Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-3 4-6 6-3 earlier on Friday, outlasting the fourth seed in just over two hours.