TOKYO -- Canada's Milos Raonic advanced to the semifinals of the Japan Open with his 40th victory of the season.
Raonic, seeded third, cruised past Slovakia's Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-3 in just over an hour Friday.
The 22-year-old from Thornhill, Ont., once again used a dominant serve to beat his opponent, with just 11 aces to only two for Lacko.
Raonic will next face Croatian Ivan Dodig, a winner over Finland's Jarkko Nieminen 6-2, 7-6 (3). Dodig has won two of the pair's three matches, including a second-round victory over Raonic last June on grass at Eastbourne and a Barcelona win in 2011.
A win over Dodig - ranked no. 35 - would mark a return for Raonic to the Tokyo final where he lost a year ago to Kei Nishikori.
Raonic, ranked 11th in the world, is coming off a win at the Thailand Open on Sunday and improved his season record to 40-17. He's trying to earn one of the last spots in the World Tour Finals in London next month.
Against Lacko, Raonic never faced a break point from his 81st-ranked opponent. The loss to Raonic was Lacko's 14th straight against a top-20 opponent.
Raonic, who stands 5-0 in quarter-finals this year, has not lost a set this week. He took early control against Lacko with two breaks to earn the first set in 25 minutes.
He went up a quick break in the second for a 2-0 advantage, and later closed his match with a service winner.
If Raonic were to beat Dodig, he would enter the finals against either top-seeded Juan del Potro, 25, of Tandil, Argentina or sixth-seeded Nicolas Almagro, 28, of Murcia, Spain.
