Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic

Raonic at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships
Country (sports)	Canada
Residence	Monte Carlo, Monaco
Born	(1990-12-27) December 27, 1990 Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	2008
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Coach	Frédéric Niemeyer (2009–2010) Galo Blanco (2010–2013) Ivan Ljubičić (2013–2015) Riccardo Piatti (2014–) Carlos Moyá (2016–)
Prize money	$9,392,599
Singles
Career record	216–104
Career titles	8
Highest ranking	No. 4 (11 May 2015)
Current ranking	No. 13 (15 February 2016)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open	SF (2016)
French Open	QF (2014)
Wimbledon	SF (2014)
US Open	4R (2012, 2013, 2014)
Other tournaments
Tour Finals	RR (2014)
Olympic Games	2R (2012)
Doubles
Career record	20–24
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 103 (June 10, 2013)
Team competitions
Davis Cup	SF (2013)
Last updated on: 15 February 2016.

Milos Raonic (/ˈmiːloʊʃ ˈraʊnɪtʃ/ MEE-lohsh ROW-nich; Serbian: Miloš Raonić, Милош Раонић, [mîloʃ râonitɕ]; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high world no. 4 singles ranking on May 11, 2015, according to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). His most notable tournament performances include grand slam semifinals appearances in the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and the 2016 Australian Open, and ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals at the 2013 Canadian Open and the 2014 Paris Masters.

Raonic first garnered widespread attention by reaching the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open as a qualifer, being referred to as "the real deal," "a new star," part of "a new generation," and "a future superstar." Coupled with his first ATP World Tour title three weeks later, his world ranking rose from no. 152 to no. 37 in a month. He was awarded the 2011 ATP Newcomer of the Year. He is the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP World Tour tournament, to be ranked inside the top-10, and to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals. He has eight ATP World Tour titles.

Raonic is one of the most prolific Canadian singles players in history. He became the highest-ranked Canadian male ever on February 21, 2011 when he reached world no. 37. His career-high world no. 4 ranking is the highest by a Canadian man or woman. He is the first Canadian male in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open semifinals, the French Open quarterfinals, and the Wimbledon semifinals. He has more ATP World Tour titles and finals appearances in the Open Era than all other Canadian men combined.

Raonic is frequently cited as having one of the best serves in today's game. Statistically, Raonic is among the strongest servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of service games over his career to rank third all-time. Aided by his serve, he plays an all-court style with an emphasis on short points. All of his singles titles have been won on hard courts, his favorite surface.

Early and Personal life

Raonic was born in Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia (now Podgorica, Montenegro), and is of Serb heritage. He moved together with his family to Canada at the age of three, settling in Brampton, Ontario. His parents are both engineers; his father, Dušan, holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and his mother, Vesna, has a master's degree. He has two older siblings—a brother, Momir, and a sister, Jelena. Raonic's uncle Branimir Gvozdenović is a high-ranking politician in the Government of Montenegro, where he has served as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Spatial Planning and Environment, and Minister of Sustainable Development and Tourism. Raonic is fluent in Serbian and English.

His first, brief introduction to tennis came at age six with a week-long tennis camp at the Bramalea Tennis Club in Brampton. But he soon moved to nearby Thornhill, Ontario, and it wasn't until two years later that he asked his parents if he could play again. His father sought out coach Casey Curtis at the Blackmore Tennis club in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Curtis was at first reluctant to take on Raonic, but was convinced after Raonic demonstrated his commitment by working with his father and a ball machine daily for two months. Years later, Raonic said he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad". Raonic and Curtis worked together "twice a day, almost every day, for the next nine years."

Raonic worked for Rogers Sportsnet as an analyst for their broadcast of the 2011 Canadian Open.

His four favourite sports teams are FC Barcelona, the Toronto Blue Jays, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Toronto Raptors. Raonic played the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game held in Toronto, along with fellow Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard.

In 2012, he took up residence in Monte Carlo in a 50 m² apartment close to where fellow tennis players Novak Djokovic and Caroline Wozniacki live. Raonic is dating Canadian model Danielle Knudson.

Philanthropy

On November 14, 2012, Raonic launched the Milos Raonic Foundation, which aims to "support children from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to remove economic, physical and other barriers that might prevent them from becoming healthy, productive members of society." As of 2016, the foundation had awarded $120,000 in grants to the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and $30,000 to the Canadian Paralympic Committee.

The inaugural fundraising event for the foundation—dubbed "Raonic Race for Kids"—was held November 16, 2012, and featured exhibition matches between Raonic and Andy Roddick, and between Serena Williams and Agnieszka Radwańska. The second event, in November 2013, featured Eugenie Bouchard, Daniel Nestor, and Martin Laurendeau. The third annual event, in 2014, featured Frank Dancevic, Patrick Chan, and George Stromboulopoulos.

The foundation has also partnered with ATP Aces for Charity.

Tennis career

Junior career

Raonic first competed at a junior event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in October 2003 at the age of 12. Two years later, in October 2005, he picked up his first singles match victory at age 14. His first juniors titles in both singles and doubles came at the same Grade 4 tournament in October 2006. Later that year, he won the Prince Cup doubles title, playing with fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil for the first time at an ITF junior event. Pospisil and Raonic partnered at four more junior tournaments, including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 French Open, reaching the semifinals in the latter. His most notable titles as a junior were in doubles, winning two Grade 1 events in 2008 partnered with Bradley Klahn.

Over five years, Raonic compiled a 53–30 win–loss record in singles, and a 56–24 record in doubles. Except for the semifinals appearance at the 2008 French Open in doubles, Raonic did not advance past the second round of any junior grand slam. His career-high combined junior ranking was no. 35.

2007-2009: Early professional years

Raonic had lost his first professional match in the qualifying draw of an ITF Futures tournament in October 2005 at the age of 14, but he won his first professional main draw match at an ITF Futures tournament in Gatineau, Quebec in March 2007 against Fabrice Martin. With the win, Raonic earned his first world ranking of no. 1518. He played his first professional doubles match at the same tournament, partnered with Vasek Pospisil. Raonic lost his first ATP Challenger Tour match in Granby, Quebec, in July 2007 against Gary Lugassy.

Late in 2007, Raonic moved to Montreal as one of the first group of players at Tennis Canada's new National Tennis Centre. This marked the end of his formal relationship with Casey Curtis, who had coached him for nearly nine years.

Raonic won his first ITF Futures doubles title in Gatineau, Quebec in March 2008, and reached his first ITF Futures singles final two weeks later in Sherbrooke, Quebec. He received a wildcard to the qualifying tournament of the 2008 Canadian Open, but failed to qualify. This marked his first ATP World Tour match. He won his first ATP Challenger doubles title in November 2008 in Rimouski, Quebec, partnering again with Vasek Pospisil.

Raonic turned down a tennis scholarship from the University of Virginia and turned pro signing on with the SFX agency. University of Virginia men's tennis coach Brian Boland later commented that "I have only seen two guys turn down scholarships and then succeed quickly on the Tour: Sam Querrey and Milos Raonic."

Raonic opened 2009 at an ITF Futures event in Hollywood, Florida, losing to future ATP contemporary Grigor Dimitrov. He won his first two ITF Futures singles titles: Montreal in March and Nonthaburi, Thailand in August. He also added four more ITF Futures doubles titles. As in 2008, Raonic received a wildcard to the qualifying tournament for the 2009 Canadian Open. This time, he beat world no. 77 Teymuraz Gabashvili and no. 113 Michaël Llodra to qualify for the main draw. In the first round of the main draw (his first ATP World Tour main draw match), he held a match point, but lost to world no. 10 Fernando Gonzalez in three sets. The matches against Gabashvili and Gonzalez were the first singles matches for Raonic against a top 100 player and against a top 10 player, respectively.

In November 2009, Tennis Canada hired recently retired former player Frédéric Niemeyer to coach Raonic. Niemeyer agreed to travel with Raonic for 18 weeks during the 2010 season.

Raonic finished 2009 ranked no. 373 in singles and no. 425 in doubles.

2010: First Davis Cup and grand slam matches

In March 2010, Raonic represented Canada in a Davis Cup tie for the first time against Colombia. Although he lost both of his singles rubbers, he won his inaugural doubles rubber partnered with Daniel Nestor, who was then the top ranked doubles player in the world. In September, Raonic won his first Davis Cup singles rubber against Victor Estrella Burgos as Canada defeated the Dominican Republic.

Over several weeks in April and May, Raonic won another two ITF Futures singles titles in Korea. These added to his career total to four singles titles and five doubles titles in ITF Futures events, to go along with one doubles title in ATP Challenger events.

In the 2010 Canadian Open, Raonic and partner Vasek Pospisil won a first round doubles match against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. It was first time that the world nos. 1 and 2 had played together in a tour doubles match since Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe did so in 1976.

Raonic at the 2010 US Open

For the first time in his professional career, Raonic gained entry into a grand slam tournament at the 2010 US Open. He qualified but lost in the first round of the main draw.

At the 2010 Japan Open, Raonic lost to world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in the second round. This marked his first singles match against a player ranked no. 1, and also his first singles match against a member of the Big Four.

Because Niemeyer wished to reduce travelling due to his young family, he stepped down as Raonic's coach. Late in 2010, Tennis Canada hired former world no. 40 Galo Blanco. Raonic moved to Barcelona to train with Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella. Commenting on the six-week off-season training regiment, Blanco later said "the off-season Milos had this winter in Barcelona was amazing. We never saw anything like that before, working the way he worked for six weeks."

Raonic finished 2010 with four wins and six losses in ATP World Tour singles matches, and ranked no. 156 in the world.

2011: Top 25 and first ATP title

The first two months of 2011 represented a significant breakthrough for Raonic, as he rose from no. 156 at the beginning of January to no. 37 by the end of February.

He began this climb by qualifying for the Australian Open main draw. His first round victory over Björn Phau marked his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match. In the second round, he defeated no. 22 seed Michaël Llodra, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament. With his career-first victory over a top 10 player (Mikhail Youzhny) in the third round, he became the first qualifier to make the Round of 16 in a Grand Slam since Marcelo Filippini at the 1999 French Open.

Raonic serving at the 2011 Australian Open

Despite losing in the fourth round to world no. 7 David Ferrer, Raonic received rave reviews for his Australian Open performance. Patrick McEnroe said "Raonic [is] the real deal". BBC Sport referred to Raonic as part of "a new generation". Martina Navratilova referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit". The Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".

Two weeks later, Raonic won his first ATP title at the Pacific Coast Championships, with victories over no. 45 Xavier Malisse, no. 170 James Blake, no. 74 Ričardas Berankis, and no. 9 Fernando Verdasco.

The following week, Raonic made the finals of an ATP 500 tournament for the first time at the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships. He defeated Verdasco for the second time in three days in the first round, and world no. 17 Mardy Fish in the semifinal. In the final, he lost in three sets to world no. 8 Andy Roddick, with Roddick making a diving forehand to break serve for the match on his fifth championship point.

With his improved ranking, Raonic now earned direct entry to grand slams and other ATP World Tour tournaments for the first time. He reached the third round at both the Indian Wells Masters and the Monte-Carlo Masters. In May, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of 25. He lost in the first round of the French Open, where he was seeded for the first time at a grand slam.

At the Halle Open, Raonic reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final, partnered with Robin Haase. The pair lost to Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi in the deciding tie-break.

During the second round of Wimbledon, Raonic fell awkwardly forcing him to retire from the match. He underwent hip surgery which kept him from competing until September. His only significant result after returning from injury was a semifinals appearance at the Stockholm Open (lost to Gaël Monfils).

In November, Raonic won an exhibition match against his childhood idol, Pete Sampras, which was dubbed "The Face Off."

2012: Top 15 and second and third ATP titles

On January 8, Raonic won his second ATP title at the Chennai Open in India. He had back-to-back wins over top 10 players, beating Nicolás Almagro in the semifinals and Janko Tipsarević in the final. Raonic did not drop serve during the tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Roger Federer at the 2008 Halle Open. He lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Lleyton Hewitt.

On February 19, Raonic won his third ATP title by defending his title at the Pacific Coast Championships, defeating Denis Istomin in the final. The following week in Memphis, Raonic reached the final of the U.S. National Indoor Tennis Championships for the second straight year where he lost to Jürgen Melzer.

Milos Raonic in the third round against Federer at the Indian Wells Masters

He reached the semifinals at the Barcelona Open by defeating world no. 4 Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarterfinals. This marked his first victory over a member of the Big Four.

Raonic reached the third-round of the French Open where he lost to Juan Mónaco.

He made a second-round exit at Wimbledon, being defeated by Sam Querrey.

Raonic Serving at the 2012 US Open

He reached his first ATP 1000 quarterfinals at back-to-back events in August, losing to John Isner at the Canadian Open and Stan Wawrinka at the Cincinnati Masters.

At the US Open, Raonic lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Andy Murray. Raonic was the first Canadian male to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Martin Laurendeau in 1988.

At the Japan Open, Raonic made his third ATP 500 final, defeating Radek Štěpánek, Viktor Troicki, Janko Tipsarević, and Andy Murray, before dropping the final to Japan's Kei Nishikori. His victories over Tipsarević and Murray marked the third time he won back-to-back matches against top 10 players.

In 2012, Raonic led the ATP in points won on 1st serve (82%) and in service games won (93%). He finished the year at a career high singles ranking of no. 13.

2013: Top 10 and fourth and fifth ATP titles

Raonic at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

In 2013, Raonic matched his previous best in all four grand slams. He reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, falling to semifinalist and world no. 2 Roger Federer. At the French Open, he lost in the third round to Kevin Anderson. At Wimbledon, he lost in the second round to Igor Sijsling. At the 2013 US Open, he fell to world no. 9 Richard Gasquet in the fourth round, despite a career-high 39 aces.

Raonic earned his third consecutive title at the Pacific Coast Championships, defeating Tommy Haas in the final. He did not drop a set in all three years, going a perfect 12–0. He is the only man in the Open Era to win three consecutive titles at this event.

On May 11, Raonic split from coach Galo Blanco. Less than a month later, Raonic hired former world no. 3 tennis player Ivan Ljubičić as his coach.

Raonic reached his first ATP 1000 series final at the Canadian Open, beating no. 7 Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round and compatriot Vasek Pospisil in the semifinals. The match against Pospisil was the first all-Canadian semifinal ever played in an ATP 1000 tournament. He lost to Rafael Nadal in the final in just 68 minutes. Following the tournament, Raonic reached a career-high world ranking as world no. 10. He is the first Canadian player and also the first player born in the 1990s to enter the top 10.

In September, he won the Thailand Open tournament, defeating no. 9 Richard Gasquet in the semifinals and no. 6 Tomáš Berdych in the final. One week later at the Japan Open, Raonic reached the final for the second consecutive year, but lost a close match to Juan Martin del Potro.

In December, Raonic hired Riccardo Piatti as a co-coach alongside Ivan Ljubičić.

In 2013, Raonic again led the ATP in points won on first serve (82%) and in service games won (91%).

2014: Top 6 and first major semifinal

Raonic opened the year by reaching the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Grigor Dimitrov. He sustained a serious ankle injury that would keep him out of action for six weeks.

In March, April, and May, Raonic improved on his career-best performances at five consecutive ATP 1000 events. At the Indian Wells Masters, he beat no. 6 Andy Murray to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Alexandr Dolgopolov. He lost in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters to Rafael Nadal. He made the quarterfinals for the third ATP 1000 tournament in a row at the Monte-Carlo Masters, before falling to Stan Wawrinka. The result garnered Raonic a career-high ranking as world no. 9. Raonic lost in the third round of the Madrid Open to Kei Nishikori. At the Italian Open, Raonic defeated Jérémy Chardy in the quarterfinals to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal on clay. He lost his semifinal match to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

At the French Open, Raonic was seeded inside the top 8 for the first time at a grand slam tournament. He notched victories against Nick Kyrgios, Jiří Veselý, Gilles Simon, and Marcel Granollers to reach the quarterfinals, becoming the first Canadian man to do so in the Open Era. Novak Djokovic won their quarterfinal encounter in straight sets.

At Wimbledon, Raonic was again seeded 8th. He defeated Matthew Ebden, Jack Sock, Łukasz Kubot, Kei Nishikori, and Nick Kyrgios to reach his first grand slam semifinal. He became the first Canadian men's singles player to reach the semifinals at a Grand Slam since Robert Powell in 1908. Raonic lost to Roger Federer in the semifinals in straight sets. Despite the loss, Raonic saw his world ranking rise from No. 9 to a career-high No. 6.

In his next tournament, Raonic reached his first final of the year at the Washington Open, facing compatriot Vasek Pospisil in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history. Raonic won the title in straight sets. It was his first ATP 500 title, after finishing as runner-up in four previous ATP 500 tournaments. After reaching the quarterfinals at the Canadian Open and the semifinals at the Cincinatti Masters, he claimed the men's 2014 US Open Series.

At the US Open, Raonic was seeded fifth, a career-high. He won his first three matches to face rival Kei Nishikori in the round of 16. On the morning of September 2, Raonic and Nishikori tied the all-time latest finish for a match at the US Open, ending at 2:26 a.m. This tied previous matches between Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors in 1993, and between John Isner and Philipp Kohlschreiber in 2012. The five set match lasted 4 hours and 19 minutes, with Raonic losing and Nishikori advancing to the quarterfinals.

In October, Raonic made the final of the Japan Open for the third consecutive year, losing to Nishikori again.

Three years prior, in 2011, Raonic had set a personal goal of reaching the year-end ATP Finals, where only the top eight players earned a spot. Heading into the final ATP 1000 event of 2014, the Paris Masters, Raonic trailed David Ferrer for the eighth spot, and needed a deep run to surpass him. He beat Jack Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut to set up a quarterfinals match against world no. 2 Roger Federer, who had beaten him in all six previous meetings. Needing a win to avoid being eliminated from contention for the ATP Finals, Raonic won in straight sets. His victory was hailed as "a career-defining win." In the post-match interview, Raonic was asked to rank this victory in his career. He replied: "Considering all the circumstances around it, I think this was the biggest win for me." He went on to beat world no. 5 Tomáš Berdych in the semifinals to earn a spot in the second ATP 1000 final of his career. He lost to Novak Djokovic in the final, but secured his place in the ATP Finals. He was the first Canadian to reach the ATP Finals, and also the first player born in the 1990s to do so. Anticlimacticly, Raonic had to withdraw from the tournament with an injury after losses to Federer and Nishikori.

Raonic ended the year at a career-high season-ending ranking of no. 8. He was one of just three players to reach the quarterfinals or better at seven of the nine ATP 1000 tournaments, along with Roger Federer and David Ferrer. Raonic finished with a career-high total of 1107 aces in 2014. At the time, this was the fifth highest single-year ace total in history. (It was surpassed by both Ivo Karlović and John Isner in 2015.)

2015: Top 4 and injury woes

Raonic in 2015.

Raonic's former coach Ivan Ljubicic

Raonic began 2015 with a finals appearance at the Brisbane International after defeating world no. 5 Kei Nishikori in three tiebreaks. He lost to world no. 2 Roger Federer in three sets, with Federer recording his 1,000th match win on the professional tour. Later in the month, he returned to the Australian Open reaching the quarterfinals after beating world no. 12 Feliciano López. He lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets.

At the Indian Wells Masters, Raonic won his quarterfinals match against no. 3 Rafael Nadal, after saving three match points from Nadal in the second set tiebreak. It was Raonic's first career victory over Nadal after five defeats. He lost to Roger Federer in the semifinal.

In April, Raonic opened the Monte-Carlo Masters with a victory over João Sousa. Just one game into his second-round match against Tommy Robredo, Raonic called for a medical timeout due to a right foot injury. Although he went on to win the match, it was revealed that "the foot was pre-existing issue which predated his matches in Monte Carlo and made worse by his play." In his quarterfinals match against Tomáš Berdych, he complained of numbness in his right foot during a medical timeout, and retired while trailing 2–5 in the opening set. It was diagnosed as a pinched nerve, and Raonic was expected to be healthy for the Madrid Open.

In Madrid, Raonic advanced to the quarterfinals with straight sets victories over Juan Mónaco and Leonardo Mayer. After Raonic lost the quarterfinals against Andy Murray, Murray acknowledged that Raonic was "struggling [with injury]." Following the match, Raonic announced that he would undergo surgery to repair a nerve in his foot, targeting a return in time for the French Open. Ironically, Raonic's world ranking reached a new career-high of no. 4 the following week.

Following surgery, Raonic withdrew from the Italian Open and the French Open. He returned to play the Queen's Club Championships and Wimbledon, losing in both tournaments in the third round. After his Wimbledon loss to Nick Kyrgios, Raonic revealed that his foot injury had led to problems throughout his body: "There wasn't a place it wasn't [bothering me]... First ankle, then the hip, and then the back. Then when those things aren't working, you just put too much pressure on our shoulder, and then your shoulder hurts."

The cascading injuries led to a withdrawal from Canada's Davis Cup tie against Belgium; a withdrawal from the Washington Open, where Raonic was the defending champion; first round losses at the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Masters; and a third round loss at the US Open to Feliciano López.

In September, at the St. Petersburg Open, Raonic won his seventh singles title with a three-set victory over João Sousa. His serve was broken just once in the entire tournament, which marked his first title in Europe. After early losses at the China Open and Shanghai Masters, Raonic ended the ATP season by withdrawing from three consecutive tournaments, citing injury. After six weeks off, Raonic joined the Philippine Mavericks of the exhibition International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) in December. After four matches, he withdrew due to back spasms.

On November 26, Raonic parted ways with coach Ivan Ljubičić. Ljubičić was added to Roger Federer's coaching team two weeks later. On January 1, 2016, Raonic added former world no. 1 tennis player Carlos Moya to his coaching staff.

2016

Raonic reached the final of the Brisbane International against world no. 3 Roger Federer in a rematch of their 2015 final. This time, however, Raonic upset Federer in straight sets, winning his eighth career title.

In the fourth round of the Australian Open, he upset world no. 4 Stan Wawrinka in five sets, beating the 2014 champion for the first time in five meetings. He then beat Gaël Monfils in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career. He lost to world no. 2 Andy Murray in five sets, sustaining an adductor injury while leading two sets to one. After the match, he reflected that the loss was "probably the most heartbroken I've felt on court."

National representation

Early in his career, Raonic was questioned about whether he would follow the example of Greg Rusedski, the last prominent Canadian tennis player, who decided to represent Great Britain instead. Raonic declared that he would play for Canada.

Raonic embraced his role as Canada's top singles player, intent on growing the game in Canada. He stated "I want to make a difference in Canada with [my career]. I feel if I were to achieve my goals it could make a great difference to the growth of tennis in Canada and help to produce more top players in the future." Before a Davis Cup tie with Japan in 2015, he said: "I'm here because I want to be here. I don't have anybody telling me I need to be here. I want to succeed at this event, and I want to succeed representing Canada."

Davis Cup

Milos Raonic serving at the 2012 Davis Cup in Vancouver.

From 2010 to 2015, Canada competed in 14 Davis Cup ties. Raonic represented Canada in 11 of those ties, missing only three due to injury: Ecuador in 2011, Japan in 2014, and Belgium in 2015.

Raonic made his Davis Cup debut in Bogota against Colombia in 2010 at the age of 19. Raonic lost both of his singles matches (against Santiago Giraldo and Juan Sebastián Cabal), but won his doubles match partnered with Daniel Nestor. His first singles match victory came in Canada's next tie against the Dominican Republic, when he beat Víctor Estrella Burgos in five sets. This marked the first five set match of Raonic's career.

Competing against Mexico in 2011, Raonic won three rubbers in a tie for the first time, beating both Manuel Sánchez and Daniel Garza in singles and partnering with Vasek Pospisil to win in doubles as well.

In the 2013 Davis Cup World Group, Raonic won four consecutive singles matches to lead Canada over top-seeded Spain and Italy and into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1913. In the semifinals against Serbia, Raonic won his singles match over Janko Tipsarević, but lost to world no. 1 Novak Djokovic as Canada was eliminated.

Overall, Raonic has 16 match wins in 22 Davis Cup matches (14–5 in singles; 2–1 in doubles). He is one of the most prolific players in Canadian Davis Cup history, tied for the six most match wins overall and tied for third in singles match wins.

Olympics

Raonic represented Canada at his maiden Olympics in London 2012 and competed in the singles competition as an unseeded player. He won his first round match over Japanese Tatsuma Ito in straight sets. In the second round, Raonic lost to French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 3–6, 6–3, 23–25, breaking three Olympic tennis records. The match holds the records for the most games played in a best-of-three sets match (66 games) and the most games played in a single set (48 games) in Olympic history. At the time, it was also the longest match by time played (3 hours 57 minutes), but this record was broken three days later in the semifinal match between Roger Federer and Juan Martín del Potro (4 hours 26 minutes).

Hopman Cup

In 2014, Raonic partnered with Eugenie Bouchard to represent Canada in the Hopman Cup. Raonic won two of three singles matches, and paired with Bouchard to win two of three doubles matches. Canada finished in second place in their pool, behind Poland.

Playing style

The most distinctive part of Raonic's game is his powerful and accurate serve, from which his "Missile" nickname is deriveddddd. He is frequently cited as having one of the best serves in today's game, along with Ivo Karlović and John Isner. Some consider Raonic's serve to be among the best of all time. Raonic's childhood idol, Pete Sampras, once commented that "[Raonic's] serve is bigger than big." After a match against Raonic, Novak Djokovic commented "I can't recall the last time I was feeling so helpless returning. Even his second serve." Statistically, Raonic is among the strongest servers in the Open Era, winning 91% of service games over his career to rank third all-time. Raonic also has one of the fastest recorded serves of all time.

Aided by his serve, Raonic employs an all-court style with an emphasis on short points. His groundstrokes are both solid and consistent, but his forehand is stronger than his backhand. Because of this, he has been known to run around his backhand and hit inside-out forehands instead. He attempts to dictate play and is generally more agressive than his opponent, as evidenced by usually having more winners and more unforced errors. To finish points quickly, Raonic often approaches the net, with either a serve and volley (on his serves) or chip-and-charge strategy (on returns). He is adept at employing touches or deep volleys at the net.

Raonic prefers hard courts, where he has been significantly more successful compared to clay or grass. Every tournament where Raonic has reached the final has been on hard courts, and all but one of his victories over top 10 players have been on hard courts.

Aspects of Raonic's game which have been criticized include his return of serve, quickness and mobility, backhand, short game, and the use of backspin or sidespin.

Equipment and apparel

Raonic endorses the Wilson BLX Blade 98 18x20 and he uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L Strings.

Raonic endorsed Lacoste clothing in 2011 and 2012, both on-court and off-court. In January 2013, Raonic became the first tennis player to endorse New Balance clothing and shoes, in an endorsement deal reported to be worth "US$1 million annually over a five-year term." Two and a half years later, in June 2015, this deal was extended "for the length of his playing career and beyond." The lifelong nature of this contract was described as "unique." In June 2015, he signed a multi-year deal to wear an AVIVA logo on his uniform.

Raonic is represented by CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency. He also has sponsorship deals with Zepp, Canada Goose, Rolex, SAP, and Commerce Court.

Rivalries and Contemporaries

Raonic and the Big Four

Raonic holds a combined 6–24 record (20%) against the Big Four, including 0–5 against Novak Djokovic, 1–6 against Rafael Nadal, 2–9 against Roger Federer, and 3–4 against Andy Murray.

Raonic's four most significant tournament results ended with losses to a member of the Big Four: Nadal in the 2013 Canadian Open final, Federer in the 2014 Wimbledon Championships semifinal, Djokovic in the 2014 Paris Masters final, and Murray in the 2016 Australian Open semifinal.

At grand slams, Raonic has lost all six matches against the Big Four. Until the 2016 Australian Open loss to Murray in five sets, Raonic had never won a set.

Raonic has played Federer more times (11 matches) than any other player, either inside or outside the Big Four. His first victory over Federer in the 2014 Paris Masters quarterfinal was hailed as "a career-defining win." His second victory over Federer was his first in a final against the Big Four at the 2016 Brisbane International.

Raonic and Nishikori

Kei Nishikori represents the most significant rivalry for Raonic. The two have completely opposite playing styles, with Raonic as the powerful server and attacker and Nishikori as an excellent defender. Nishikori holds a 5–2 advantage in seven close matches, including wins twice in the Japan Open final. Ten sets have gone to a tiebreak. Five matches have gone the distance, three times to three sets, and twice to five sets, including a marathon US Open match which set the record for latest finish ever at 2:26 a.m.

Nishikori and Raonic are among a group of players which tennis pundits suggest could be the successors of the Big Four. The members of this group vary, but has included Grigor Dimitrov, Ernests Gulbis, Marin Čilić, and Dominic Thiem.

Raonic and Pospisil

Vasek Pospisil is not a traditional "rival" of Raonic; they've played each other in only two ATP matches. Yet their careers are intertwined.

Pospisil is just six months older than Raonic, and both were products of Tennis Canada's development programs. They partnered in doubles frequently early in their careers, winning doubles titles together in junior and ATP Challenger events. Raonic has been the top-ranked Canadian for over five years; Pospisil has been number two for over four of those. Raonic beat Pospisil in the first all-Canadian semifinal ever played in an ATP 1000 tournament, and in the first all-Canadian final in ATP history. They are frequent Davis Cup teammates, and they plan to play doubles together at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Raonic, Isner, and Karlovic

Raonic is often compared to John Isner and Ivo Karlović. The trio possess statistically dominant serves, leading the ATP in service games won and in aces per match in the period between 2012 and 2015.

They have played each other minimally, however. Raonic is 1–1 against Karlović and 0–3 against Isner. Karlović holds a 3–2 head-to-head advantage over Isner.

		Ivo Karlovic		John Isner		Milos Raonic
		% or #	ATP Rank	% or #	ATP Rank	% or #	ATP Rank
Service Games Won	2012	87%	5th	92%	2nd	93%	1st
	2013	91%	2nd	90%	3rd	91%	1st
	2014	93%	1st	93%	2nd	90%	4th
	2015	96%	1st	93%	3rd	94%	2nd
	Career	92%	1st	91%	2nd	91%	3rd
Aces per Match	2012	15.3	3rd	16.8	1st	16.2	2nd
	2013	17.3	1st	16.3	2nd	14.7	3rd
	2014	18.5	1st	17.4	2nd	16.5	3rd
	2015	23.0	1st	18.5	2nd	15.8	3rd
	Career	19.3	1st	16.8	2nd	15.4	4th

Career statistics

Main article: Milos Raonic career statistics

Grand Slam performance timeline

This table is current through the 2016 Australian Open.

Tournament	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	SR	W–L	Win %
Grand Slam Tournaments
Australian Open	A	4R	3R	4R	3R	QF	SF	0 / 6	19–6	76%
French Open	A	1R	3R	3R	QF	A		0 / 4	8–4	67%
Wimbledon	A	2R	2R	2R	SF	3R		0 / 5	10–5	67%
US Open	1R	A	4R	4R	4R	3R		0 / 5	11–5	69%
Win–Loss	0–1	4–3	8–4	9–4	14–4	8–3	5–1	0 / 20	48–20	71%

Records

• These records were attained in the Open Era of tennis (post 1968).
• Records in bold indicate peer-less achievements.

Tournament	Time Span	Record Accomplished	Players matched
Pacific Coast Championships	2011–2013	3 consecutive titles	Stands alone
		3 consecutive finals	John McEnroe Pete Sampras Andre Agassi
Japan Open	2012–2014	3 consecutive runner-up finishes	Stands alone
Summer Olympics	2012	Most games played in a best-of-three sets match (66 games; Tsonga won 6–3 3–6 25–23)	Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
		Most games played in a set (48 games; Tsonga won third set 25–23)
U.S. Open	2014	Latest finish for a match: 2:26 a.m. (won by Kei Nishikori 4–6 7–6 6–7 7–5 6–4)	Philipp Kohlschreiber and John Isner (2012) Mats Wilander and Mikael Pernfors (1993)

Awards

• 2011 – ATP Newcomer of the Year
• 2011 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
• 2012 – QMI Agency Canadian Male Athlete of the Year
• 2012 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
• 2013 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
• 2013 – Lionel Conacher Award
• 2014 – Emirates ATP Top 10 Trophy
• 2014 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
• 2014 – Lionel Conacher Award
• 2015 – Tennis Canada male player of the year
• 2016 – Toronto Sports Hall of Honour male athlete of the year

External links

• Official website
• Milos Raonic at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Milos Raonic at the Davis Cup
• Milos Raonic on Twitter