Raonic in Memphis semi-final, to crack top 50

Surging Canadian Milos Raonic will make his debut in the top 50 of the world rankings next week thanks to a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 quarter-final win over American Robert Kendrick at the Memphis Championships on Friday.

The 20-year-old Raonic, fresh off his first tournament win on Sunday at the San Jose Open, utilised his powerful serve and unleashed 20 aces to beat Kendrick in one hour and 53 minutes.

He will take on fourth seed Mardy Fish, who beat defending champion and fellow-American Sam Querrey 6-3, 6-4, in Saturday's semi-final.

The Montenegro-born Raonic, who set the tournament record for aces when he blasted 38 during a second-round match against Radek Stepanek, saved eight of nine break points on Friday and broke Kendrick's serve twice.

Raonic became the first Canadian since Greg Rusedski in 1995 to win an ATP title when he recorded a stunning 7-6, 7-6 upset victory over top seed and defending champion Fernando Verdasco in San Jose.

He is also the youngest tour winner since Marin Cilic of Croatia won the New Haven title at 19 in 2008.

The win over Verdasco boosted Raonic, who burst onto the scene by reaching the fourth round of last month's Australian Open, to 59th in the world after starting the year at 156.