Australian Open 2016: Schedule, Predictions for Friday Melbourne Bracket

There's only one singles match on the Friday schedule at the 2016 Australian Open. The red-hot No. 13 seed Milos Raonic is continuing his journey toward making his first Grand Slam final appearance as he faces No. 2 seed Andy Murray in the semifinals. 

The match won't begin before 7:30 p.m. locally or 3:30 p.m. ET. To see the entire day's schedule, check out the Australian Open's website.

Raonic has been playing excellently all month. He won the Brisbane International and reached the final of the Mubadala World Tennis Championship earlier in January. The 25-year-old Canadian is now one win away from a meeting with top seed Novak Djokovic in the final—the Serb defeated No. 3 seed Roger Federer in four sets on Thursday. 

In case you're wondering, Djokovic is 5-0 against Raonic and 21-9 against Murray in his career. Needless to say, he should be confident no matter who wins Friday night.

Raonic talked about his four-set victory over No. 23 seed Gael Monfils during his post-match press conference, per the tournament's YouTube channel:

Raonic appears to be oozing with confidence as every aspect of his game seems to be falling into place. 

Murray has been in top form as well—he's lost just two sets en route to the semifinals. Per the ATP World Tour website, the two men have split their six previous meetings. 

Aaron Favila/Associated Press

The 28-year-old Scotland native has far more Grand Slam experience. He's reached the semifinals or further 17 times in the four major tournaments. This will only be Raonic's second time in a Grand Slam semifinal, and he's never been to a final.

While Murray has the advantage in experience, Raonic should have every confidence he can take down the second seed. Not only has he split the overall meetings with Murray, he also has a 2-2 record against him on hard courts.

Murray has also made a habit of falling short deep in Grand Slam tournaments. He's reached 17 semifinals in Grand Slam events, but he's won just two of those tournaments, and he's never won the Australian Open. There's good reason to pick Murray as the winner here, but we must not ignore Raonic's rise.

He's poised to be one of the sport's top players over the next 5-7 years, and 2016 is shaping up as his breakout campaign. He'll punch his ticket to his first Grand Slam final appearance with a four-set victory over Murray.