Johnson sweeps past ‘poor’ Raonic at Delray Beach

American Steve Johnson saw off Milos Raonic in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals at the Delray Beach Open, with the Canadian admitting he played at “a poor level”.

Johnson, ranked 51st, lost just four points on his first serve as he beat ninth seed Raonic 6-2 6-4.

“It was important to get those first points on my serve to give myself a little bit of breathing room,” Johnson told atpworldtour.com.

“When you get down and he starts hitting balls hard for winners, it’s kind of out of your control.”

Raonic had enjoyed his first win for four months on Tuesday as he makes his way back from a calf injury.

“I’ve got to definitely review it, think about it, because that was a pretty poor level I put out there today. Not much to be happy with,” he said.

“I think he was just sharp. I’ve played him before so I knew what to expect. He was more aggressive today than other times.

“Was that my lack of creation, or was he just taking over and making me feel, in a lot of ways, silly out there? I had a tough time with a lot of things today.”

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Reilly Opelka, the world number 228, hit 17 aces as he beat fellow American, top seed and defending champion Jack Sock 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Sixth seed John Isner hit 30 aces and won all 18 service games but the American still found himself unable to overcome Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk, who won their second-round contest 7-6 (3) 6-7 (4) 7-6 (5).

American Donald Young, the runner-up in 2015, lost 7-6 (6) 6-3 to Evgeny Donskoy .

Cilic clings on in rainy Rio

Australian Open finalist Marin Cilic saved a match point before the rain came to his rescue against Gael Monfils at the Rio Open.

Monfils raced into a 5-1 lead on his way to clinching the first set, and the pair swapped breaks in the second before the weather began to intervene.

A match point went begging for Monfils in the tie-break and a second burst of rain brought play to an end for the day with the Frenchman agonisingly close at 6-3 6-6 (7-7).

In Marseille, third seed Lucas Pouille came through a tough test against fellow Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 3-6 7-6 (6) 6-4.

Julien Benneteau provided another home win as he edged past Spanish fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut 7-6 (2) 7-6 (5).