Milos Raonic ousts 2014 champion Stanislas Wawrinka after five-set battle

Raonic proved too sharp for the French Open champion playing an astute serve-and-volley game in winning his first match on Melbourne's main showcourt in three hours and 44 minutes.

Raonic threw down 24 aces as the powerful service statistics that carried him to a recent victory over Roger Federer in claiming the Brisbane title held up against the fourth seed Wawrinka, who did superbly well to keep alive his prospects after losing the opening two sets..

He will face Frenchman Gael Monfils in the last eight, who completed a 7-5 3-6 6-3 7-6 (4) success over Andrey Kuznetsov earlier in the day.

Raonic is already unbeaten in 2016, and will have serious hopes of challenging for his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne after enjoying his first win over Switzerland's Wawrinka.

He is also the first player from Canada to reach four Grand Slam quarter-finals.

"It is about trying to play in a rythmn, and trying to see it through," said Raonic in reference to trying to quell Wawrinka's admirable but unsuccessful recovery from two sets down operating from the back of the court.