Milos Raonic
Encyclopedia
Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis
player from Thornhill, Ontario
, Canada.
Born in what is now Podgorica
, Montenegro
, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3. Raonic is Canada's highest ATP
ranked male singles player and the country's highest ever ranked player since computer rankings began in 1973. He qualified for his first grand slam
event at the 2010 U.S. Open
. In 2011 he rose from World No. 152 to World No. 37 in just a month, after he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open
and won his first ATP title at the 2011 SAP Open
. Raonic, who prefers to play on hard courts, plays an all-court game but is most notable for his serve, which is both powerful and accurate. Since late autumn of 2010 he has been coached by former Spanish pro player Galo Blanco
in Barcelona
.
-sanctioned junior tennis event was the qualifying draw for the Canadian ITF Group 4 Championships in October 2003, where he lost in the first round to fellow Canadian Kirill Sinitsyn, 6–7, 3–6. His next junior circuit
action was a year later at the Canadian ITF Championships 1 event, where he lost in the first round of the main draw, 4–6, 4–6 to compatriot Peter Marrack. In doubles at the same event he and partner Sheharyar Wali, also Canadian, reached the second round.
He won his first ITF tournament singles match in October 2005, defeating compatriot Tony Dang in three sets before falling in the round of 16 to American Christopher Racz. In doubles, he and compatriot Mohammed Niaki reached the semi-finals. Two weeks later, at the Canadian ITF Grade 3 Championships, Raonic reached his first final, where he and partner Sinitsyn lost to Marrack and Peter Polansky
. In singles he lost again to Marrack in the first round.
In April 2006, Raonic reached the later rounds in a singles event, defeating Marrack in straight sets in the quarter-finals at the 24th All-Canadian ITF Junior Championships before losing to Julien Gauthier in the semis. After reaching the second round in singles of the Canadian Junior Open (Grade 1) in August, he then won the 2006 U18 ITF World Ranking Event (Grade 4) in early October, defeating Gauthier in the final 6–4, 6–0. He also captured the doubles title partnering compatriot John Taylor.
Raonic reached the third round in singles at a Grade 1 junior event in November–December 2006, the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships. Two weeks later he lost the singles final of the Grade 4 Prince Cup and won the doubles. In 2007 he lost early in the Grade 2 and Grade 1 junior events he entered. Raonic did however reach the finals of the Grade 3 US Junior International Hard Court Championships in August and won both the Grade 3 2007 U18 ITF World Ranking Event and Grade 4 U18 ITF World Ranking Event 2 in October on home soil. He also won the doubles at these events, partnering compatriot Nathaniel Gery for both. In doubles, he also lost in the final of the Pan American Closed ITF Championships (Group B1) in early October, partnering American Waylon Chin.
In December 2007, Raonic qualified for the prestigious Orange Bowl Tennis Championships, a Grade A event. He went on to reach the third round where he lost to American Chase Buchanan
, 4–6 in the third. Raonic began 2008 with a bang in juniors, winning the Grade 1 Nottinghill ITF event doubles event, partnering American Bradley Klahn
. He and Klahn the following week reached the second round of the Australian Open
before winning the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships in March–April. At the USTA International Spring, Raonic reached the quarter-finals for the first time in singles at a Grade 1 event, losing to Klahn in straight sets.
and Banque Nationale
sponsored ITF Futures events in March, held indoors in the Province of Quebec. At Hull
he won his first ever singles match played, over World No. 687 Fabrice Martin , 7–5, 2–6, 6–4. He lost in the next round to World No. 661 Patrick Schmolzer, 3–6, 3–6. The following week he lost in the first round to No. 2 seed John Paul Frattero, 6–7, 3–6. In doubles, at both events, Raonic partnered fellow junior Vasek Pospisil
and lost in the first round. Then in Rock Forest
he again reached the second round, going out to No. 1 seed, Davis Cup teammate, hometown favourite and future coach Fred Niemeyer. He and Niemeyer played doubles in Sherbrooke too and reached the semi-finals.
Raonic saw his first ATP Challenger Series
action in the summer, receiving a further wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger
. He lost to No. 5 seed Gary Lugassy in the first round handily, 4–6, 0–6. He also played doubles with Lugassy but went out in the first round. Raonic ended the year ranked World No. 1386, in both singles and doubles.
, he and partner Milan Pokrajac, unseeded, won the doubles title, while in singles he lost to World No. 457 Michael Yani
in the quarter-finals in three sets. The following week in Montreal
Raonic and Pokrajac finished doubles runners-up and in singles Raonic went out in the second round. Then in Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Raonic reached his first tour finals in singles, winning four three-set matches to do so. In the final he lost 5–7, 6–7(4) to unseeded Italian Enrico Iannuzzi . In doubles, he and Pokrajac lost in the first round.
In late April, Raonic next competed in an ITF tour event, defeating compatriot Kirill Sinitsyn 6–2, 6–0 to qualify (as the No. 5 seed) for the main draw in singles at U.S.A. F9 in Vero Beach on outdoor clay. In the main draw he lost however in the first round to fellow qualifier American Marcus Fugate, 1–6, 4–6. Raonic was a direct entrant into the main doubles draw, but he and partner Adam El Mihdawy lost in the first round. The following week at U.S.A. F10 in Orange Park, Florida
, Raonic lost in the third round of singles qualifying despite being the No. 3 seed. He did not compete in any tour events next until July.
In July, Raonic, as a wild-card entrant, lost in the first round in singles of back-to-back Canadian held Challenger events, Granby
and Moncton. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil reached the second round at Granby but lost in the first in Moncton. The following week he received a wild card in qualifying for the 2008 Rogers Cup and lost in the first round to World No. 203 Alexandre Kudryavtsev
3–6, 4–6.
The next tour action Raonic saw was in October in Japan. In Kashiwa at Japan F10 he lost in the first round to fellow unseeded player Hiroki Kondo
4–6, 2–6. In doubles he and partner Tadayuki Longhi reached the second round. The following week at Japan F11 in Tokyo
, Raonic upset No. 2 seed Tatsuma Ito
in three sets before falling to Thailand Davis Cupper Peerakiat Siriluethaiwattana in the second round. He did not play doubles.
Raonic competed his 2008 tour play as a wild card entrant in the Rimouski Challenger, where he lost in the first round to Jose De Armas
after taking the first set. In doubles however, he and partner Vasek Pospisil teamed to capture their first Challenger title. The wild cards defeated the No. 2 seeds in the semis and the No. 3 seeded team of Kristian Pless
and Michael Ryderstedt
in the final, 5–7, 6–4, 10–6. Raonic finished 2008 World No. 915 in singles and No. 513 in doubles. Following the 2008 season Raonic turned down an offer from the University of Virginia
and turned pro signing on with the SFX agency.
, losing in three sets in the qualifying round as the No. 13 seed. He qualified the following week for the main draw at U.S.A. F2 as the No. 12 seed, but lost in the first round of the main draw. Qualifying for singles allowed him to enter the doubles draw as a wild card—he and partner Kevin Botti reached the second round.
The next week at U.S.A. F3 in Plantation, Florida
, Raonic again lost in singles in the qualifying round, this time as the No. 9 seed. After a week off, he qualified for Croatia F1, as the No. 11 seed. He then knocked off World No. 293 and No. 7 seed Jan Mertl
, World No. 425 Ivaylo Traykov
, and No. 606 Denis Matsukevich before falling to No. 8 seed Louk Sorensen
in the semi-finals. In doubles he and compatriot Erik Chvojka, the No. 3 seeds, reached the second round. The following week the Canadian doubles duo reached the finals of Croatia F2; in singles, Roanic again qualified for the main draw and then reached the quarter-finals.
After a couple weeks off, Raonic captured his first tour singles title, Canada F2 in Montreal. Receiving a wild card from Tennis Canada to play in the main draw, Raonic faced no seeded players and two qualifiers—he defeated World No. 594 Gregoire Burquier in the final, 6–3, 6–4. In doubles, he and Vasek Pospisil, the top seeds, reached the second round. The team then did one better the following week at Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, reaching the semi-finals, again as the top seeds. In singles, Milos lost to Vasek in the quarter-finals in three close sets.
Two weeks later Raonic again qualified for the main draw at a Futures event, this time as the No. 4 seed at U.S.A. F7, and reached the quarter-finals. He and partner Philip Bester
, as the No. 3 seeds, captured the doubles title, defeating the No. 1 seeds in the final, Lester Cook
and Treat Conrad Huey
. The following week in Little Rock, Arkansas
, Milos qualified for the main draw as the No. 2 seed, but lost in the first round. He did not play doubles.
Raonic's next action was in June at Slovenia F2. For the first time he received a spot in the main draw of a singles tournament based solely on this ranking. He lost however in the first round, to No. 1 seed Pavol Cervenak
, 4–6, 2–6. In doubles, he and partner Aljaz Bedene
lost in the second round. The following week at Slovenia F3 Milos again lost in the first round, this time to No. 3 seed Denis Molchanov . He and Molchanov teamed to win the doubles title however, the fourth tour doubles title of Raonic's career. The next week, Raonic reached the quarter-finals of Italy F15, on clay in Padova, while in doubles he and partner Marc Fornell-Mestrs reached the second round. He completed his European swing losing in the first round of Italy F16 in singles while reaching the semis in doubles, partnering with Stefano Valenti.
After two weeks off, Raonic resumed play at U.S.A. F16 in Pittsburgh, on clay. The No. 7 seed, he was upset in the second round by Rhyne Williams. In doubles he and partner Pospisil, the top seeds, lost in the semi-finals. The following week in Peoria, Illinois
, the No. 6 seed Raonic reached the quarter-finals where he was upset by the unseeded Pospisil. He and Vasek captured the doubles title however, winning their final three matches handily. After a week off, Raonic once again received a wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger. He played World No. 262 to a first-set tie-break loss before succumbing in the second set 1–6. In doubles, he and Pospisil lost in a second-round tie-break to the No. 2 seeds Colin Fleming
and Ken Skupski
.
The following week Raonic was given a wild card into singles qualifying for the 2009 Rogers Cup
, where he began by beating World No. 77 Teymuraz Gabashvili in three sets following up with a straight sets win over World No. 113 Michael Llodra
in the qualifying round. In the main draw, he lost to World No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez
in three sets. Raonic finished the match having served and returned better on first serves than his opponent, and having won more points in the match, 112 to 107. In the week following this result, he lost to Kittipong Wachiramanowong
in three sets in the final of Thailand F1 and, with partner Nikolaus Moser
, won the doubles title. Then playing just singles in the next two weeks, he won the title for Thailand F2 and reached the semis of Thailand F3 (l/Jamie Baker
).
Raonic spent the autumn of 2009 playing on the American Challenger circuit, but with less success than he had in summer. He finished 2009 ranked World No. 373 in singles and No. 425 in doubles.
. Raonic reached the semi-finals of three of his first five ITF Futures events in doubles, Great Britain F1, F2, partnering with Uladzimir Ignatik, and France F2 playing with Romain Jouan. He also won his doubles Davis Cup tie playing against Colombia
with World No. 1 Daniel Nestor
. He lost, however, both of his singles rubbers in Bogota.
In mid-April Raonic captured the Korea F2 singles title as the top seed, defeating No. 3 Hiroki Kondo in the final 6–1, 6–1. He did so without losing a set and by winning his first match without conceding a game, over World No. 668 Min-Hyoek Cho. In May he captured his second title in three weeks, dropping just one set in taking Korea F4. The following week he lost to No. 8 seed Tatsuma Ito
in the first round of the 2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis
tournament. Despite the loss he saw his singles ranking reach a career high for the second time in two weeks, at World No. 303. Raonic reached a new career high singles ranking in late June, rising to World No. 276.
In July Raonic reached the singles finals
of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
before falling to No. 1 seed Tobias Kamke
3–6, 6–7. This result saw Raonic's ranking go to yet another new career best World No. 209. The following week Raonic received a special exemption to appear in the main draw of the 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
where he has lost to No. 7 seed Robert Kendrick
in the first round, 6–7(3), 4–6. Granted a wild card into the singles main draw of the 2010 Rogers Cup
, Raonic lost in the first round to Victor Hănescu
, 4–6, 4–6. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil
had the privilege of playing against Rafael Nadal
and Novak Djokovic
, and winning, 10–8 in the tie-break. 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 and Pospisil lost in the second round, however.
Raonic qualified for the U.S. Open
but lost his main draw first round match to Australia No. 3 and wild card entrant Carsten Ball
. Two weekends later in the Davis cup, versus the Dominican Republic
, Raonic won his singles match 9–7 in the fifth set over Victor Estrella
, as Canada
won the tie 5–0 to stay in the Americas Zone Group 1 for 2011.
After a week off, Milos qualified
for the 2010 Proton Malaysian Open
. He reached quarterfinals before losing to Igor Andreev
. One week later, Raonic qualified
for the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship. He lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal
in the second round. Raonic competed well against Nadal, returning better on first serve in fact (winning 20% of points to Nadal's 14) while serving well on first serve (getting 67% of his first serves in play, winning 86% of those points). He had more chances to break point but experience and poise won out for the veteran as Nadal converted both of his only two break points and Raonic, none of his five.
The next two weeks playing in Asia, Tennis Canada hired Galo Blanco
, who had worked with fellow Canadian player Steven Diez
in Spain, on a two-week trial basis. (Niemeyer wished to step down and he and Blanco co-coached during this period.) Unseeded, Milos reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Tashkent Challenger
. After defeating No. 2 seed and Indian No. 1 Somdev Devvarman
in the second round in straight sets, he was forced to retire with a sore shoulder trailing No. 5 seed Karol Beck
. After a couple of weeks off, with Blanco now in charge, Raonic lost in the first round of qualifying for the 500 Series 2010 Valencia Open 500
, to No. 2 seed Pablo Cuevas
. It was turned out to be the last tour action he had for the year. Instead, he turned his attention to a six-week off-season training regiment in Barcelona
, under the guidance of Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella, one that Blanco later described, during the 2011 Australian Open, as "amazing."
Raonic ended 2010 ranked World No. 156 in singles and No. 349 in doubles.
where he lost in the qualifying round against Édouard Roger-Vasselin
. Next, he successfully qualified for the 2011 Australian Open
. He won his first round match against German Björn Phau
in three sets, his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam
match. In the second round he defeated No. 22 seed Michaël Llodra
of France, again in three sets, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam. He then knocked out the Russian World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny
in four sets to reach the fourth round, the first qualifier to make the 4th round of a Grand Slam since 1999. Playing his next match at the Hisense Arena, he fell to World No. 7 David Ferrer
after he lost the last three sets, despite winning the first.
Despite the loss, Raonic received rave reviews for his performance at the Australian Open, such as when John McEnroe
referred to Raonic as "the real deal" on Twitter
, or the BBC
's reference to Raonic as part of "a new generation". Martina Navratilova referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit" for the young tennis player, and the Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".
Two weeks later, Raonic began play at the SAP Open
tournament. After upsetting No. 4 seed Xavier Malisse
in the first round in two sets, he then beat James Blake
, again in two sets. After beating Richard Berankis
in the quarterfinal match, 6–4, 7–6(2), he reached ATP
tournament semifinals for the first time in his career. Raonic advanced to his first final of an ATP tournament when the No. 2 seed Gaël Monfils
defaulted in the semifinals citing a wrist injury. In the final, Milos beat 1st seeded Fernando Verdasco
7–6(6), 7–6(5), winning his first ATP title, and became the first Canadian player to win an ATP
singles tournament since Greg Rusedski
in 1995 (before Rusedski started representing Great Britain).
Raonic received a wild card into the main singles draw of the following week's 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Interestingly, he opened against Fernando Verdasco, the player he had just faced two days earlier, and prevailed again, this time in three sets. Milos next defeated Radek Štěpánek
also in three sets, serving a career-high 38 aces in the process. After defeating qualifier Robert Kendrick
in the quarter-finals, again losing the second set before prevailing, Raonic continued his unbeaten run, defeating No. 4 seed Mardy Fish
in the semis, once again despite dropping the second set. He lost a closely contested final, however, to No. 1 seed and two-time Memphis champion Andy Roddick
, 6–7(7), 7–6(11), 5–7, with Roddick making a diving forehand to win break point, on his fifth championship point for the match. Raonic's performance in this tournament elevated him to yet another career high ranking of World No. 37, making him the highest-ranked Canadian male singles player in ATP Rankings history.
Raonic won both his singles Davis Cup
rubbers against Mexico on clay as well as the doubles tie together with Vasek Pospisil
to advance Canada to the second round.
He was given a wild card berth for the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament
main draw, where he lost to Ryan Harrison in the third round after wins over Marsel İlhan
and Mardy Fish
in the first two rounds.
Raonic started the clay court
season at the Monte-Carlo Masters
tournament by winning over Michaël Llodra
and Ernests Gulbis
before falling to 4th seed and eventual finalist David Ferrer
in the third round. After the tournament, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of 28, his first time in the top 30. It is also his 7th week in the top 50. He reached third round at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
, and advanced to the semifinals at the 2011 Estoril Open
(5th seeded there, he disposed of Igor Andreev
in the first round, of João Sousa
in the second round, and upset Gilles Simon
in the quarterfinal before retiring due to a back injury against Fernando Verdasco
4–6 0–0).
On grass court
s, Raonic's reached quarterfinals at the 2011 Gerry Weber Open
by taking out both Pablo Andujar
and Tobias Kamke
in straight sets before losing to Philipp Petzschner
in three. In doubles with partner Robin Hasse, he reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final. The pair lost to Rohan Bopanna
and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi
(the nicknamed "Indo-Pak Express
") 9–11 in the deciding tie-break. At Wimbledon
31st seeded Milos advanced to the second round after disposing of Marc Gicquel
. However in his second round match Raonic had to retire after winning 3 games in the first set due to injury.
Tennis Canada announced that Raonic underwent hip surgery. Raonic returned to action following the US Open
, where he was defeated by Israel's
Amir Weintraub
in Canada's Davis Cup
matchup. He reached the semifinals at 2011 If Stockholm Open
(lost to Gaël Monfils
).
BLX Blade 98 and he uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L Strings. He also endorses Lacoste clothing.
.
as a colour analyst for their broadcast of the 2011 Rogers Cup
.
. Raonic started playing tennis at the age of 8 at the Blackmore Tennis club in Richmond Hill
, Ontario with coach, Casey Curtis. Growing up in the suburbs
of Toronto
, Ontario, Raonic stated how Canada is mostly a hockey
country. He says he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad". His brother Momir, and sister Jelena, have moved back to Montenegro and Raonic says he visits his family there often. Raonic's uncle Branimir Gvozdenović used to be the Minister of Urbanism and Environmental Protection in the Government of Montenegro
where he also performed the vice-prime minister duties. His parents live in Canada and are both engineers, his father Dusan holds a PhD
in engineering and his mother Vesna has a masters degree in the same field, while his sister also has a masters degree. Raonic is fluent in two languages, speaking both Serbian
and English
. His three favourite sports teams are Real Madrid C.F.
, Toronto Raptors
, and Toronto Maple Leafs
.
In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open it was questioned if he would follow in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski
the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for his second nationality in Great Britain. When asked if he would continue to play for Canada he replied "Yes". Raonic has shown a passion for Canada and the game of tennis in the country. This was displayed in an October, 2010 interview where he said of the matter that "I want to make a singles career, I enjoy it more and I want to make a difference in Canada with it. 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."
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
player from Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill, Ontario
Thornhill is a community in the Greater Toronto Area of Southern Ontario, Canada, located on the northern border of the city of Toronto. Once a municipal village, Thornhill is now a community and postal designation geographically split into two municipalities along Yonge Street, the city of...
, Canada.
Born in what is now Podgorica
Podgorica
Podgorica , is the capital and largest city of Montenegro.Podgorica's favourable position at the confluence of the Ribnica and Morača rivers and the meeting point of the fertile Zeta Plain and Bjelopavlići Valley has encouraged settlement...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3. Raonic is Canada's highest ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
ranked male singles player and the country's highest ever ranked player since computer rankings began in 1973. He qualified for his first grand slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
event at the 2010 U.S. Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
. In 2011 he rose from World No. 152 to World No. 37 in just a month, after he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
and won his first ATP title at the 2011 SAP Open
2011 SAP Open
The 2011 SAP Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 122nd edition of the SAP Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
. Raonic, who prefers to play on hard courts, plays an all-court game but is most notable for his serve, which is both powerful and accurate. Since late autumn of 2010 he has been coached by former Spanish pro player Galo Blanco
Galo Blanco
Galo Blanco is a retired professional tennis player from Oviedo, Spain. Blanco is a member of the men's professional tour since 1995.Most of Blanco's early professional tour appearances were earned by qualifying for tournaments...
in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
.
Junior tennis career
Raonic's first ITFInternational Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation is the governing body of world tennis, made up of 205 national tennis associations.It was established as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by 12 national associations meeting at a conference in Paris, France on 1 March 1913...
-sanctioned junior tennis event was the qualifying draw for the Canadian ITF Group 4 Championships in October 2003, where he lost in the first round to fellow Canadian Kirill Sinitsyn, 6–7, 3–6. His next junior circuit
ITF Junior Circuit
The ITF Junior Circuit is the premier level for world wide competition among under-18 junior tennis players. Founded in 1977 with only nine tournaments, the current 2009 ITF Junior Circuit offered 358 tournaments in 118 different countries...
action was a year later at the Canadian ITF Championships 1 event, where he lost in the first round of the main draw, 4–6, 4–6 to compatriot Peter Marrack. In doubles at the same event he and partner Sheharyar Wali, also Canadian, reached the second round.
He won his first ITF tournament singles match in October 2005, defeating compatriot Tony Dang in three sets before falling in the round of 16 to American Christopher Racz. In doubles, he and compatriot Mohammed Niaki reached the semi-finals. Two weeks later, at the Canadian ITF Grade 3 Championships, Raonic reached his first final, where he and partner Sinitsyn lost to Marrack and Peter Polansky
Peter Polansky
Peter Polansky is a Canadian professional tennis player. He is now Canada's seventh-ranked singles performer, according to the ATP; he was however the country's top singles player from June 21, 2010 until January 17, 2011. Previously he was also Canada's No...
. In singles he lost again to Marrack in the first round.
In April 2006, Raonic reached the later rounds in a singles event, defeating Marrack in straight sets in the quarter-finals at the 24th All-Canadian ITF Junior Championships before losing to Julien Gauthier in the semis. After reaching the second round in singles of the Canadian Junior Open (Grade 1) in August, he then won the 2006 U18 ITF World Ranking Event (Grade 4) in early October, defeating Gauthier in the final 6–4, 6–0. He also captured the doubles title partnering compatriot John Taylor.
Raonic reached the third round in singles at a Grade 1 junior event in November–December 2006, the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships. Two weeks later he lost the singles final of the Grade 4 Prince Cup and won the doubles. In 2007 he lost early in the Grade 2 and Grade 1 junior events he entered. Raonic did however reach the finals of the Grade 3 US Junior International Hard Court Championships in August and won both the Grade 3 2007 U18 ITF World Ranking Event and Grade 4 U18 ITF World Ranking Event 2 in October on home soil. He also won the doubles at these events, partnering compatriot Nathaniel Gery for both. In doubles, he also lost in the final of the Pan American Closed ITF Championships (Group B1) in early October, partnering American Waylon Chin.
In December 2007, Raonic qualified for the prestigious Orange Bowl Tennis Championships, a Grade A event. He went on to reach the third round where he lost to American Chase Buchanan
Chase Buchanan
Chase Buchanan Buchanan grew up and attended grade school and high school in New Albany, Ohio and now attends The Ohio State University and is a member of the tennis team) is an American men's tennis player.-Career:...
, 4–6 in the third. Raonic began 2008 with a bang in juniors, winning the Grade 1 Nottinghill ITF event doubles event, partnering American Bradley Klahn
Bradley Klahn
Bradley Klahn is an American tennis player from Poway, California.Bradley played at the 2010 US Open, taking a set from 20th seed Sam Querrey before being defeated in four sets.Bradley received a wild card into the 2011 SAP Open....
. He and Klahn the following week reached the second round of the Australian Open
2008 Australian Open - Boys' Doubles
Hsieh Cheng-peng and Yang Tsung-hua won the title by defeating Vasek Pospisil and César Ramírez 3–6, 7–5, [10–5] in the final.-Seeds:# Ryan Harrison / Matt Reid # Vasek Pospisil / César Ramírez ...
before winning the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships in March–April. At the USTA International Spring, Raonic reached the quarter-finals for the first time in singles at a Grade 1 event, losing to Klahn in straight sets.
2007
Raonic was given wild cards into three Tennis CanadaTennis Canada
Tennis Canada is the national governing body of tennis within Canada. It works together with the provincial associations to organize tournaments and rules. Tennis Canada also host one ATP Masters Series tournament and one WTA Tier I tournament . The event locations rotate between Montreal and...
and Banque Nationale
National Bank of Canada
National Bank of Canada is the 6th largest bank and 8th largest financial institution in Canada. The bank's headquarters are in Montreal, Quebec....
sponsored ITF Futures events in March, held indoors in the Province of Quebec. At Hull
Hull, Quebec
Hull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa. As part of the Canadian National Capital Region, it contains offices for twenty thousand...
he won his first ever singles match played, over World No. 687 Fabrice Martin , 7–5, 2–6, 6–4. He lost in the next round to World No. 661 Patrick Schmolzer, 3–6, 3–6. The following week he lost in the first round to No. 2 seed John Paul Frattero, 6–7, 3–6. In doubles, at both events, Raonic partnered fellow junior Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil is currently ranked World No. 124 in singles and No. 115 in doubles, both career highs. As Canada's No. 2 in singles and No...
and lost in the first round. Then in Rock Forest
Rock Forest, Quebec
Rock Forest–Saint-Élie–Deauville is an arrondissement, or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec.The borough comprises the formerly independent cities of Rock Forest, Deauville and Saint-Élie-d'Orford, which were annexed into the city of Sherbrooke on January 1, 2002...
he again reached the second round, going out to No. 1 seed, Davis Cup teammate, hometown favourite and future coach Fred Niemeyer. He and Niemeyer played doubles in Sherbrooke too and reached the semi-finals.
Raonic saw his first ATP Challenger Series
ATP Challenger Series
The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments...
action in the summer, receiving a further wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger
Granby Challenger
The Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour. It is held annually in Granby, Quebec, Canada, since 1993....
. He lost to No. 5 seed Gary Lugassy in the first round handily, 4–6, 0–6. He also played doubles with Lugassy but went out in the first round. Raonic ended the year ranked World No. 1386, in both singles and doubles.
2008
Raonic was again a wild card entrant in singles in the Banque Nationale Futures events in Quebec in March, fairing far better this time. At Canada F1 in GatineauGatineau
Gatineau is a city in western Quebec, Canada. It is the fourth largest city in the province. It is located on the northern banks of the Ottawa River, immediately across from Ottawa, Ontario, and together they form Canada's National Capital Region. Ottawa and Gatineau comprise a single Census...
, he and partner Milan Pokrajac, unseeded, won the doubles title, while in singles he lost to World No. 457 Michael Yani
Michael Yani
Michael Yani is a Singaporean-American tennis player. He turned professional in 2003.Yani is 6 ft 1 in and 75 kg . He resides in Durham, North Carolina. His high singles ranking to date is World No. 143, which he reached March 1, 2010.Yani qualified for the 2009 Wimbledon Championships and 2009...
in the quarter-finals in three sets. The following week in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
Raonic and Pokrajac finished doubles runners-up and in singles Raonic went out in the second round. Then in Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Raonic reached his first tour finals in singles, winning four three-set matches to do so. In the final he lost 5–7, 6–7(4) to unseeded Italian Enrico Iannuzzi . In doubles, he and Pokrajac lost in the first round.
In late April, Raonic next competed in an ITF tour event, defeating compatriot Kirill Sinitsyn 6–2, 6–0 to qualify (as the No. 5 seed) for the main draw in singles at U.S.A. F9 in Vero Beach on outdoor clay. In the main draw he lost however in the first round to fellow qualifier American Marcus Fugate, 1–6, 4–6. Raonic was a direct entrant into the main doubles draw, but he and partner Adam El Mihdawy lost in the first round. The following week at U.S.A. F10 in Orange Park, Florida
Orange Park, Florida
Orange Park is a town in Clay County, Florida, USA, and a suburb of Jacksonville. The population was 8,412 at the 2010 census. The name "Orange Park" is additionally applied to a wider area of northern Clay County outside the town limits, covering such communities as Fleming Island, Lakeside, and...
, Raonic lost in the third round of singles qualifying despite being the No. 3 seed. He did not compete in any tour events next until July.
In July, Raonic, as a wild-card entrant, lost in the first round in singles of back-to-back Canadian held Challenger events, Granby
Granby Challenger
The Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It is currently part of the Association of Tennis Professionals Challenger Tour. It is held annually in Granby, Quebec, Canada, since 1993....
and Moncton. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil reached the second round at Granby but lost in the first in Moncton. The following week he received a wild card in qualifying for the 2008 Rogers Cup and lost in the first round to World No. 203 Alexandre Kudryavtsev
Alexandre Kudryavtsev
Alexandre Kudryavtsev is a Russian professional tennis player who has played professionally since 2003. He made his breakthrough in 2008, playing in his first top-level international tournaments on the ATP tour, having spent time playing in "Challenger" and "Futures" events...
3–6, 4–6.
The next tour action Raonic saw was in October in Japan. In Kashiwa at Japan F10 he lost in the first round to fellow unseeded player Hiroki Kondo
Hiroki Kondo
is a Japanese tennis player. On April 12, 2010, he reached his highest ATP Doubles ranking of 179.-Doubles finals: 6 :-External links:*...
4–6, 2–6. In doubles he and partner Tadayuki Longhi reached the second round. The following week at Japan F11 in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Raonic upset No. 2 seed Tatsuma Ito
Tatsuma Ito
is a Japanese professional tennis player.-Singles: 4 :-Doubles: 1 :-External links:*...
in three sets before falling to Thailand Davis Cupper Peerakiat Siriluethaiwattana in the second round. He did not play doubles.
Raonic competed his 2008 tour play as a wild card entrant in the Rimouski Challenger, where he lost in the first round to Jose De Armas
José de Armas
José de Armas is a Venezuelan professional tennis player.-Runner-Up :-External links:*...
after taking the first set. In doubles however, he and partner Vasek Pospisil teamed to capture their first Challenger title. The wild cards defeated the No. 2 seeds in the semis and the No. 3 seeded team of Kristian Pless
Kristian Pless
Kristian Peter Pless is a professional male tennis player from Denmark.In 1999, he won the Australian Open for juniors , and reached the junior finals at Wimbledon , and the US Open . He finished 1999 as the no...
and Michael Ryderstedt
Michael Ryderstedt
Michael Ryderstedt is a professional tennis player from Sweden.In August 2001, at the Fischer Junior Open he captured the doubles title with Dudi Sela of Israel....
in the final, 5–7, 6–4, 10–6. Raonic finished 2008 World No. 915 in singles and No. 513 in doubles. Following the 2008 season Raonic turned down an offer from the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
and turned pro signing on with the SFX agency.
2009
Raonic began his year in mid-January attempting to qualify in singles for U.S.A. F1 in Boca Raton, FloridaBoca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
, losing in three sets in the qualifying round as the No. 13 seed. He qualified the following week for the main draw at U.S.A. F2 as the No. 12 seed, but lost in the first round of the main draw. Qualifying for singles allowed him to enter the doubles draw as a wild card—he and partner Kevin Botti reached the second round.
The next week at U.S.A. F3 in Plantation, Florida
Plantation, Florida
Plantation is the name of the following places in the U.S. state of Florida:*Plantation, Florida, a city in Broward County; the largest of the places named "Plantation" in Florida*Plantation, Sarasota County, Florida, a census-designated place...
, Raonic again lost in singles in the qualifying round, this time as the No. 9 seed. After a week off, he qualified for Croatia F1, as the No. 11 seed. He then knocked off World No. 293 and No. 7 seed Jan Mertl
Jan Mertl
Jan Mertl is a Czech tennis player playing on the ITF Futures Tour and ATP Challenger Tour. On July 23, 2007, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 163.-Singles: 1 :-Doubles: 9 :-External links:...
, World No. 425 Ivaylo Traykov
Ivaylo Traykov
Ivaylo Traykov is a professional Bulgarian tennis player.-Personal:Traykov was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on 17 December 1978, to Toncho, an economist, and Mariana, an engineer. Taking up tennis at the age of 7, Traykov is coached and trained by his father. Traykov enjoys reading books, playing cards...
, and No. 606 Denis Matsukevich before falling to No. 8 seed Louk Sorensen
Louk Sorensen
Louk Sorensen is a professional tennis player from Ireland.Sorensen is the first player representing Ireland to win a Grand Slam event main draw match in the Open Era. His father, Sean, was the first Irishman to play a Grand Slam main draw match in the Open Era, going out in the first round of...
in the semi-finals. In doubles he and compatriot Erik Chvojka, the No. 3 seeds, reached the second round. The following week the Canadian doubles duo reached the finals of Croatia F2; in singles, Roanic again qualified for the main draw and then reached the quarter-finals.
After a couple weeks off, Raonic captured his first tour singles title, Canada F2 in Montreal. Receiving a wild card from Tennis Canada to play in the main draw, Raonic faced no seeded players and two qualifiers—he defeated World No. 594 Gregoire Burquier in the final, 6–3, 6–4. In doubles, he and Vasek Pospisil, the top seeds, reached the second round. The team then did one better the following week at Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, reaching the semi-finals, again as the top seeds. In singles, Milos lost to Vasek in the quarter-finals in three close sets.
Two weeks later Raonic again qualified for the main draw at a Futures event, this time as the No. 4 seed at U.S.A. F7, and reached the quarter-finals. He and partner Philip Bester
Philip Bester
Philip Bester is a Canadian professional tennis player from North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Bester was a finalist at the 2006 junior French Open. In doing so he became the first Canadian to reach a grand slam final in singles, and is only the second ever to do so.-As a junior:Bester...
, as the No. 3 seeds, captured the doubles title, defeating the No. 1 seeds in the final, Lester Cook
Lester Cook
Lester Cook is an American professional tennis player.-External links:...
and Treat Conrad Huey
Treat Conrad Huey
Treat Conrad Huey is an American tennis player of Filipino descent who represents the Philippines internationally. He specialises in doubles....
. The following week in Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock, Arkansas
Little Rock is the capital and the largest city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The Metropolitan Statistical Area had a population of 699,757 people in the 2010 census...
, Milos qualified for the main draw as the No. 2 seed, but lost in the first round. He did not play doubles.
Raonic's next action was in June at Slovenia F2. For the first time he received a spot in the main draw of a singles tournament based solely on this ranking. He lost however in the first round, to No. 1 seed Pavol Cervenak
Pavol Červenák
Pavol Červenák is a professional tennis player from Slovak Republic.-Titles :-External links:*...
, 4–6, 2–6. In doubles, he and partner Aljaz Bedene
Aljaž Bedene
Aljaž Bedene is a Slovenian tennis player.He won five Futures and one Challenger singles titles . In doubles he won one Challenger title and two Futures titles. Aljaž plays with right hand and two-handed backhand. He is a member of the Slovenia Davis Cup team. His highest ranking is No...
lost in the second round. The following week at Slovenia F3 Milos again lost in the first round, this time to No. 3 seed Denis Molchanov . He and Molchanov teamed to win the doubles title however, the fourth tour doubles title of Raonic's career. The next week, Raonic reached the quarter-finals of Italy F15, on clay in Padova, while in doubles he and partner Marc Fornell-Mestrs reached the second round. He completed his European swing losing in the first round of Italy F16 in singles while reaching the semis in doubles, partnering with Stefano Valenti.
After two weeks off, Raonic resumed play at U.S.A. F16 in Pittsburgh, on clay. The No. 7 seed, he was upset in the second round by Rhyne Williams. In doubles he and partner Pospisil, the top seeds, lost in the semi-finals. The following week in Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
, the No. 6 seed Raonic reached the quarter-finals where he was upset by the unseeded Pospisil. He and Vasek captured the doubles title however, winning their final three matches handily. After a week off, Raonic once again received a wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger. He played World No. 262 to a first-set tie-break loss before succumbing in the second set 1–6. In doubles, he and Pospisil lost in a second-round tie-break to the No. 2 seeds Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming
Colin Fleming is a British professional tennis player who lives in Linlithgow.He was selected for 2009 Great Britain Davis Cup team....
and Ken Skupski
Ken Skupski
Ken Skupski is a professional tennis player who lives in Liverpool, England. He is best known as a doubles player, most successfully partnering Colin Fleming. Having played college tennis at the Louisiana State University, he turned professional in 2007...
.
The following week Raonic was given a wild card into singles qualifying for the 2009 Rogers Cup
2009 Rogers Cup
The 2009 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 120th edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2009 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier 5 of the 2009 WTA Tour...
, where he began by beating World No. 77 Teymuraz Gabashvili in three sets following up with a straight sets win over World No. 113 Michael Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
in the qualifying round. In the main draw, he lost to World No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez
Fernando González
----Fernando Francisco González Ciuffardi is a professional tennis player from Chile. He is known for having one of the hardest forehands on the circuit. In Spanish he is called El Bombardero de La Reina and Mano de Piedra...
in three sets. Raonic finished the match having served and returned better on first serves than his opponent, and having won more points in the match, 112 to 107. In the week following this result, he lost to Kittipong Wachiramanowong
Kittipong Wachiramanowong
Kittipong Wachiramanowong is a professional tennis player. Nicknamed "Pong" in Thailand , he began playing tennis at age 7. Clay is his favorite surface, and he is coached by Khun Sombat Euam-mongkol.-2009:...
in three sets in the final of Thailand F1 and, with partner Nikolaus Moser
Nikolaus Moser
Nikolaus Moser is a Austrian tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. On October 4, 2010, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 401, whilst his highest doubles ranking of 183 was reached on November 8, 2010....
, won the doubles title. Then playing just singles in the next two weeks, he won the title for Thailand F2 and reached the semis of Thailand F3 (l/Jamie Baker
Jamie Baker (tennis)
Jamie Baker is a British professional male tennis player. He trains at Nottingham Tennis Centre and in Loughborough.-Junior:...
).
Raonic spent the autumn of 2009 playing on the American Challenger circuit, but with less success than he had in summer. He finished 2009 ranked World No. 373 in singles and No. 425 in doubles.
2010
Raonic started the 2010 season with new coach, former teammate Frédéric NiemeyerFrederic Niemeyer
Frédéric Niemeyer is a retired, veteran minor tour and Canadian Davis Cup tennis player who now is a Tennis Canada coach. Born in Campbellton, New Brunswick, Niemeyer hails from Deauville, Sherbrooke, Quebec...
. Raonic reached the semi-finals of three of his first five ITF Futures events in doubles, Great Britain F1, F2, partnering with Uladzimir Ignatik, and France F2 playing with Romain Jouan. He also won his doubles Davis Cup tie playing against Colombia
Colombia Davis Cup team
The Colombia Davis Cup team represents Colombia in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federación Colombiana de Tenis.Colombia currently competes in the Americas Zone of Group I and have never competed in the World Group...
with World No. 1 Daniel Nestor
Daniel Nestor
Daniel Mark Nestor, CM , born Danijel Nestorović September 4, 1972, in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is a Serbian-born Canadian professional tennis player from Toronto, Ontario, Canada....
. He lost, however, both of his singles rubbers in Bogota.
In mid-April Raonic captured the Korea F2 singles title as the top seed, defeating No. 3 Hiroki Kondo in the final 6–1, 6–1. He did so without losing a set and by winning his first match without conceding a game, over World No. 668 Min-Hyoek Cho. In May he captured his second title in three weeks, dropping just one set in taking Korea F4. The following week he lost to No. 8 seed Tatsuma Ito
Tatsuma Ito
is a Japanese professional tennis player.-Singles: 4 :-Doubles: 1 :-External links:*...
in the first round of the 2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis
2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis
The 2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour...
tournament. Despite the loss he saw his singles ranking reach a career high for the second time in two weeks, at World No. 303. Raonic reached a new career high singles ranking in late June, rising to World No. 276.
In July Raonic reached the singles finals
2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby – Singles
Xavier Malisse was the defending champion, but chose to compete in ATP 250: Los Angeles instead.Tobias Kamke defeated Milos Raonic 6–3, 7–6 in the final.-Seeds:# Tobias Kamke # Go Soeda # Carlos Salamanca ...
of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
The 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby was a professional tennis tournament played on Hard courts. It was the seventeenth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour...
before falling to No. 1 seed Tobias Kamke
Tobias Kamke
Tobias Kamke is a German tennis player. He reached his career high ranking in singles at No. 64 on 31 January 2011 and in doubles at No. 419 on 17 October 2011.-2008:...
3–6, 6–7. This result saw Raonic's ranking go to yet another new career best World No. 209. The following week Raonic received a special exemption to appear in the main draw of the 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open
The 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the sixth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2010 ITF Women's Circuit...
where he has lost to No. 7 seed Robert Kendrick
Robert Kendrick
Robert Bradley Kendrick is an American tennis player. He turned professional in 1999. His career high single ranking is world no. 69, achieved on July 20, 2009. He was suspended for a year after testing positive at the 2011 French Open for the drug methylhexanamine, which has been banned in sport...
in the first round, 6–7(3), 4–6. Granted a wild card into the singles main draw of the 2010 Rogers Cup
2010 Rogers Cup
The 2010 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 121st edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2010 WTA Tour...
, Raonic lost in the first round to Victor Hănescu
Victor Hanescu
Victor Hănescu is a Romanian tennis player. He achieved his career high rank of no. 26 on July 6, 2009.- Professional career :...
, 4–6, 4–6. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil is currently ranked World No. 124 in singles and No. 115 in doubles, both career highs. As Canada's No. 2 in singles and No...
had the privilege of playing against Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
and Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
, and winning, 10–8 in the tie-break. It was first time that the World Nos. 1 and 2 had played together in a tour doubles match since Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
and Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
did so in 1976. Raonic and Pospisil lost in the second round, however.
Raonic qualified for the U.S. Open
2010 US Open (tennis)
The 2010 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 30 to September 13, 2010 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, New York City, United States....
but lost his main draw first round match to Australia No. 3 and wild card entrant Carsten Ball
Carsten Ball
Carsten Thomas Ball is a professional Australian tennis player. Although born and based in the U.S., Carsten has continued to compete as an Australian player.-Tennis career:...
. Two weekends later in the Davis cup, versus the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic Davis Cup team
The Dominican Republic Davis Cup team represents the Dominican Republic in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Federación Dominicana de Tenis....
, Raonic won his singles match 9–7 in the fifth set over Victor Estrella
Víctor Estrella
Víctor Estrella is a professional tennis player from the Dominican Republic. He reached his highest individual ranking on the ATP Tour on August 15, 2011, when he became World number 206...
, as Canada
Canada Davis Cup team
The Canada Davis Cup team represents Canada in Davis Cup tennis competition and is governed by Tennis Canada.Canada currently competes in the Americas Zone of Group I. The team's best result came in its first appearance in 1913 when it reached the World Group final, losing to the United States 0–3...
won the tie 5–0 to stay in the Americas Zone Group 1 for 2011.
After a week off, Milos qualified
2010 Proton Malaysian Open – Singles
Nikolay Davydenko was the defending champion but lost in the second round, 7–6, 5–7, 6–3, against fellow Russian and qualifier Igor Andreev...
for the 2010 Proton Malaysian Open
2010 Proton Malaysian Open
The 2010 Malaysian Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the second edition of the Proton Malaysian Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour 250 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
. He reached quarterfinals before losing to Igor Andreev
Igor Andreev
Igor Valerievich Andreev is a Russian professional tennis player, born in Moscow.-2003:Andreev made his ATP debut in September 2003 at Bucharest, Romania as a qualifier and defeated top seed Nikolay Davydenko 7–5, 6–7, 6–0 in the first round, before losing in the next round to José Acasuso.At the...
. One week later, Raonic qualified
2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships – Singles
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the defending champion, but was eliminated in the first round by Jarkko Nieminen.Top seed Rafael Nadal defeated Gaël Monfils 6–1, 7–5 to become the event's third Spanish winner since David Ferrer won in 2007.-Seeds:...
for the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship. He lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal
Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera is a Spanish professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. , he is ranked No. 2 by the Association of Tennis Professionals...
in the second round. Raonic competed well against Nadal, returning better on first serve in fact (winning 20% of points to Nadal's 14) while serving well on first serve (getting 67% of his first serves in play, winning 86% of those points). He had more chances to break point but experience and poise won out for the veteran as Nadal converted both of his only two break points and Raonic, none of his five.
The next two weeks playing in Asia, Tennis Canada hired Galo Blanco
Galo Blanco
Galo Blanco is a retired professional tennis player from Oviedo, Spain. Blanco is a member of the men's professional tour since 1995.Most of Blanco's early professional tour appearances were earned by qualifying for tournaments...
, who had worked with fellow Canadian player Steven Diez
Steven Diez
Steven Diez is a Canadian and former Spanish professional tennis player. Raised primarily in and competing for Spain early in his career, he has since gone on to represent the country of his birth, Canada, in the Davis Cup.-2007:...
in Spain, on a two-week trial basis. (Niemeyer wished to step down and he and Blanco co-coached during this period.) Unseeded, Milos reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Tashkent Challenger
2010 Tashkent Challenger
The 2010 Tashkent Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament which is part of the 2010 ATP Challenger Tour...
. After defeating No. 2 seed and Indian No. 1 Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman
Somdev Devvarman , is a professional Indian tennis player. Three of Devvarman's college conquests, John Isner, Kevin Anderson, and Jesse Levine have successful pro careers. He hit the headlines for being the only collegiate player to have made three consecutive finals at the NCAA, winning...
in the second round in straight sets, he was forced to retire with a sore shoulder trailing No. 5 seed Karol Beck
Karol Beck
Karol Beck is a male tennis player from Slovakia, who turned professional in 2001. He has been ranked as high as 36th in the world .- Career :On October 25, 2004, Beck lost in the final of the St...
. After a couple of weeks off, with Blanco now in charge, Raonic lost in the first round of qualifying for the 500 Series 2010 Valencia Open 500
2010 Valencia Open 500
The 2010 Valencia Open 500 was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 16th edition of the Open de Tenis Comunidad Valenciana, and was part of the 500 Series of the 2010 ATP World Tour...
, to No. 2 seed Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Cuevas
Pablo Gabriel Cuevas Urroz is a Uruguayan professional tennis player. Cuevas won the 2008 French Open Men's Doubles title with Luis Horna....
. It was turned out to be the last tour action he had for the year. Instead, he turned his attention to a six-week off-season training regiment in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, under the guidance of Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella, one that Blanco later described, during the 2011 Australian Open, as "amazing."
Raonic ended 2010 ranked World No. 156 in singles and No. 349 in doubles.
2011
Raonic started 2011 playing qualifying matches for the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open2011 Aircel Chennai Open
The 2011 Aircel Chennai Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 16th edition of the Chennai Open, and part of the 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour. It took place at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Chennai, India, from January 3 through January 9, 2011.-Seeds:*...
where he lost in the qualifying round against Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin
Édouard Roger-Vasselin is a male tennis player from France, the son of 1983 French Open semifinalist Christophe Roger-Vasselin.-2007:...
. Next, he successfully qualified for the 2011 Australian Open
2011 Australian Open
The 2011 Australian Open was a tennis tournament featuring six different competitions, and part of the 2011 ATP World Tour, the 2011 WTA Tour, ITF Junior Tour and the NEC Tour, as tournaments for professional, junior and wheelchair players were held...
. He won his first round match against German Björn Phau
Bjorn Phau
Björn Phau is a German tennis player and the son of a German mother and an Indonesian father. He reached a singles ranking of 59 in the world on 19 June 2006. He defeated Andre Agassi 7–5, 7–5 at the 2006 Dubai Tennis Championships. In an interview, Agassi cited Phau as one of the quickest tennis...
in three sets, his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
match. In the second round he defeated No. 22 seed Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
of France, again in three sets, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam. He then knocked out the Russian World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Youzhny
Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny , is a professional Russian tennis player, noted for his consistency and all-court play style. He has been coached by Boris Sobkin for 17 years....
in four sets to reach the fourth round, the first qualifier to make the 4th round of a Grand Slam since 1999. Playing his next match at the Hisense Arena, he fell to World No. 7 David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
after he lost the last three sets, despite winning the first.
Despite the loss, Raonic received rave reviews for his performance at the Australian Open, such as when John McEnroe
John McEnroe
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title...
referred to Raonic as "the real deal" on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, or the BBC
BBC Sport
BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC. It became a fully dedicated division of the BBC in 2000. It incorporates programmes such as Match of the Day, Grandstand , Test Match Special, Ski Sunday, Rugby Special and coverage of Formula One motor racing, MotoGP and the Wimbledon Tennis...
's reference to Raonic as part of "a new generation". Martina Navratilova referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit" for the young tennis player, and the Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".
Two weeks later, Raonic began play at the SAP Open
2011 SAP Open
The 2011 SAP Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 122nd edition of the SAP Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
tournament. After upsetting No. 4 seed Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse
Xavier Malisse is a Belgian tennis player. Born in Kortrijk, Belgium, he is the only men's player from his country to have been ranked in the top 20 of the ATP tour. He is sponsored by Prince and Lotto. His nickname is "The X-Man"....
in the first round in two sets, he then beat James Blake
James Blake
James Riley Blake is an American professional tennis player. Blake is known for his speed and powerful, flat forehand. As of August 2011, Blake is ranked no. 63 among active male players with 24 career finals appearances...
, again in two sets. After beating Richard Berankis
Ricardas Berankis
Ričardas Berankis is a Lithuanian professional tennis player. He is the highest ranked Lithuanian tennis player of all time.- Early career :Berankis began playing tennis at the age of two...
in the quarterfinal match, 6–4, 7–6(2), he reached ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
tournament semifinals for the first time in his career. Raonic advanced to his first final of an ATP tournament when the No. 2 seed Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
defaulted in the semifinals citing a wrist injury. In the final, Milos beat 1st seeded Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
7–6(6), 7–6(5), winning his first ATP title, and became the first Canadian player to win an ATP
Association of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
singles tournament since Greg Rusedski
Greg Rusedski
Gregory "Greg" Rusedski is a British Canadian former tennis player who turned professional in 1991 and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33...
in 1995 (before Rusedski started representing Great Britain).
Raonic received a wild card into the main singles draw of the following week's 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Interestingly, he opened against Fernando Verdasco, the player he had just faced two days earlier, and prevailed again, this time in three sets. Milos next defeated Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...
also in three sets, serving a career-high 38 aces in the process. After defeating qualifier Robert Kendrick
Robert Kendrick
Robert Bradley Kendrick is an American tennis player. He turned professional in 1999. His career high single ranking is world no. 69, achieved on July 20, 2009. He was suspended for a year after testing positive at the 2011 French Open for the drug methylhexanamine, which has been banned in sport...
in the quarter-finals, again losing the second set before prevailing, Raonic continued his unbeaten run, defeating No. 4 seed Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
in the semis, once again despite dropping the second set. He lost a closely contested final, however, to No. 1 seed and two-time Memphis champion Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick
Andrew Stephen "Andy" Roddick is an American professional tennis player and a former World No. 1. He is currently the second highest-ranked American player, behind Mardy Fish....
, 6–7(7), 7–6(11), 5–7, with Roddick making a diving forehand to win break point, on his fifth championship point for the match. Raonic's performance in this tournament elevated him to yet another career high ranking of World No. 37, making him the highest-ranked Canadian male singles player in ATP Rankings history.
Raonic won both his singles Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
rubbers against Mexico on clay as well as the doubles tie together with Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil
Vasek Pospisil is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil is currently ranked World No. 124 in singles and No. 115 in doubles, both career highs. As Canada's No. 2 in singles and No...
to advance Canada to the second round.
He was given a wild card berth for the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament
2011 BNP Paribas Open
The 2011 BNP Paribas Open was a tennis tournament played at Indian Wells, California in March 2011. It was the 36th edition of the event, known as the BNP Paribas Open, and was classified as an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event on the 2011 ATP World Tour and a Premier Mandatory event on the 2011...
main draw, where he lost to Ryan Harrison in the third round after wins over Marsel İlhan
Marsel Ilhan
Marsel İlhan is a Turkish tennis player, ranked No. 1 in Turkey and No. 109, as of October 10th, 2011, in the world...
and Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
in the first two rounds.
Raonic started the clay court
Clay court
A clay court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. The red clay is slower than the green, or Har-Tru "American" clay. The French Open uses clay courts, making it unique among the Grand Slam tournaments.Clay courts are more common...
season at the Monte-Carlo Masters
Monte-Carlo Masters
The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Masters Series on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour. The tournament is played on clay courts...
tournament by winning over Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra
Michaël Llodra is a French professional tennis player. He is a prolific doubles player with three Grand Slam championships, and has also had success in singles.-Life and career:...
and Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis
Ernests Gulbis is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schüttler, and in 2010 won his first ATP Tour singles title in the Delray Beach, defeating Ivo Karlović in the final...
before falling to 4th seed and eventual finalist David Ferrer
David Ferrer
David Ferrer Ern is a Spanish professional tennis player who lives in Valencia, Spain who is currently no. 5 in the ATP Rankings and the second-highest ranked Spaniard behind world no. 2 Rafael Nadal. He turned professional in 2000...
in the third round. After the tournament, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of 28, his first time in the top 30. It is also his 7th week in the top 50. He reached third round at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell
The 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 59th edition of the event known this year as the Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, and was part of the ATP World Tour 500 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
, and advanced to the semifinals at the 2011 Estoril Open
2011 Estoril Open
The 2011 Estoril Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 22nd edition of the Estoril Open, and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the International-level tournaments of the 2011 WTA Tour...
(5th seeded there, he disposed of Igor Andreev
Igor Andreev
Igor Valerievich Andreev is a Russian professional tennis player, born in Moscow.-2003:Andreev made his ATP debut in September 2003 at Bucharest, Romania as a qualifier and defeated top seed Nikolay Davydenko 7–5, 6–7, 6–0 in the first round, before losing in the next round to José Acasuso.At the...
in the first round, of João Sousa
João Sousa
João Sousa is a Portuguese professional tennis player who competes on the ATP Tour. In June 2011, he achieved a career-high singles world ranking no. 190...
in the second round, and upset Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon
Gilles Simon is a French professional tennis player and former world no. 6. He is a nine-time winner on the ATP World Tour...
in the quarterfinal before retiring due to a back injury against Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco
Fernando Verdasco Carmona is a professional tennis player. He is currently ranked no. 22 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight...
4–6 0–0).
On grass court
Grass court
A grass court is one of the four different types of tennis court. Grass courts are made of rye grass in different compositions depending on the tournament...
s, Raonic's reached quarterfinals at the 2011 Gerry Weber Open
2011 Gerry Weber Open
The 2011 Gerry Weber Open was a tennis tournament to played on outdoor grass courts. It was the 19th edition of the event known that year as the Gerry Weber Open and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 series of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
by taking out both Pablo Andujar
Pablo Andújar
Pablo Andújar Alba is a professional male tennis player from Spain. Andújar has played since he was 6 years old and has won 4 Challengers and several futures. He trained in Valencia, Spain in the Tennis Club El Collao. He has been in the 2010 Australian Open, but he lost to Gilles Simon 6–4, 6–1,...
and Tobias Kamke
Tobias Kamke
Tobias Kamke is a German tennis player. He reached his career high ranking in singles at No. 64 on 31 January 2011 and in doubles at No. 419 on 17 October 2011.-2008:...
in straight sets before losing to Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner
Philipp Petzschner is a professional German tennis player. He is known for his hard-hitting and incredible bursts of speed around the court, and now for controversy in the US Open Men's Doubles Final which he won partnered with Jurgen Melzer against the Polish team of Fystenberg/Matkowski...
in three. In doubles with partner Robin Hasse, he reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final. The pair lost to Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna
Rohan Bopanna is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career high ranking was 213th in 2007. Recently, most of his appearances in professional tournaments has been in doubles matches. He is a member of the Indian Davis Cup team since 2002...
and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is a professional tennis player from Pakistan. He is currently Pakistan's top player. A top 10 doubles player, his highest Singles Race ranking is 103rd and is the former Asian No. 3...
(the nicknamed "Indo-Pak Express
Indo-Pak Express
The Indo-Pak Express is the commonly used nicknamed for the ATP World Tour doubles team consisting of Indian Rohan Bopanna and Pakistani Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi, respectively.-Sources:***...
") 9–11 in the deciding tie-break. At Wimbledon
2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...
31st seeded Milos advanced to the second round after disposing of Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel
Marc Gicquel is a professional male tennis player from France. He turned pro in 1999.-Tennis career:...
. However in his second round match Raonic had to retire after winning 3 games in the first set due to injury.
Tennis Canada announced that Raonic underwent hip surgery. Raonic returned to action following the US Open
2011 US Open (tennis)
The 2011 US Open was a tennis tournament played on the outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows Park, of Queens, New York City, United States...
, where he was defeated by Israel's
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
Amir Weintraub
Amir Weintraub
Amir Weintraub is an Israeli professional tennis player. He is the current Israeli champion, and is currently ranked No...
in Canada's Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
matchup. He reached the semifinals at 2011 If Stockholm Open
2011 If Stockholm Open
The 2011 If Stockholm Open was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 43rd edition of the tournament, which was part of the 2011 ATP World Tour...
(lost to Gaël Monfils
Gaël Monfils
Gaël Sébastien Monfils is a French professional tennis player. he was the highest-ranked French tennis player, ranked no. 7 in the world ATP rankings. He was the runner-up at the Paris Masters in 2009 and 2010 and a semifinalist at the 2008 French Open.-2002:In 2002, Monfils finished 24th at the...
).
Equipment
Raonic endorses the WilsonWilson Sporting Goods
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is a sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois, and currently is a foreign subsidiary of the Finnish company Amer Sports....
BLX Blade 98 and he uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L Strings. He also endorses Lacoste clothing.
Grand Slam performance timeline
To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2011 Wimbledon Championships2011 Wimbledon Championships
The 2011 Wimbledon Championships took place at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon, London, England, from 20 June to 3 July 2011. It was the 125th edition of the championships, and the third Grand Slam tournament of the year. It was played on grass courts and was part of the...
.
| Tournament | 2010 2010 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2010 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | 2011 2011 ATP World Tour The Association of Tennis Professionals World Tour is the elite professional tennis circuit organized by the ATP. The 2011 ATP World Tour calendar comprises the Grand Slam tournaments , the ATP World Tour Masters 1000, the ATP World Tour 500 series, the ATP World Tour 250 series, the ATP World... | |SR | |W–L | |Win % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Slams Grand Slam (tennis) The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and... |
||||||||||
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
A | 4R 2011 Australian Open – Men's Singles Roger Federer was the defending champion, but lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic, who went on to win the tournament by defeating Andy Murray 6–4, 6–2, 6–3 in the final. It was Djokovic's 2nd title at the Australian Open, with this title bearing many resemblances to his title in 2008. Djokovic... |
0 / 1 | 3–1 | 75.00 | |||||
| French Open | A | 1R 2011 French Open – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal, the defending champion and, after this tournament, six-time winner of this event defended his title by beating long-time rival Roger Federer for his sixth French Open title, tying him with Björn Borg for most all-time in the open era. Notably, the Spaniard played his first ever... |
0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0.00 | |||||
| Wimbledon | A | 2R 2011 Wimbledon Championships – Men's Singles Rafael Nadal was the defending champion but lost to Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic won his first Wimbledon title. Upon reaching the final, he gained the World No.1 ranking as a result. This marks the first time that neither Roger Federer nor Rafael Nadal is ranked No... |
0 / 1 | 1–1 | 50.00 | |||||
| US Open | 1R 2010 US Open – Men's Singles Juan Martín del Potro was the defending champion, but chose not to participate this year, after undergoing a wrist operation in May and only starting to practice again in August... |
A | 0 / 1 | 0–1 | 0.00 | |||||
| Win–Loss | 0–1 | 4–3 | 0 / 4 | 4–4 | 50.00 | |||||
Colour commentating
Raonic worked for Rogers SportsnetRogers Sportsnet
Sportsnet was launched on October 9, 1998 as CTV Sportsnet. The name was chosen to match the regional "Fox Sports Net" operations across the United States...
as a colour analyst for their broadcast of the 2011 Rogers Cup
2011 Rogers Cup
The 2011 Canada Masters was a tennis tournament to be played on outdoor hard courts in Canada. It was the 122nd edition of the Canada Masters, and was part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 of the 2011 ATP World Tour, and of the Premier Series of the 2011 WTA Tour...
.
Personal
Raonic moved together with his family to Canada at the age of 3 from Titograd, Yugoslavia or what is now Podgorica, MontenegroMontenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
. Raonic started playing tennis at the age of 8 at the Blackmore Tennis club in Richmond Hill
Richmond Hill, Ontario
Richmond Hill is a town located in Southern Ontario, Canada in the central portion of York Region, Ontario. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area, being located about halfway between Toronto and Lake Simcoe...
, Ontario with coach, Casey Curtis. Growing up in the suburbs
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
of Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario, Raonic stated how Canada is mostly a hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
country. He says he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad". His brother Momir, and sister Jelena, have moved back to Montenegro and Raonic says he visits his family there often. Raonic's uncle Branimir Gvozdenović used to be the Minister of Urbanism and Environmental Protection in the Government of Montenegro
Government of Montenegro
The Government of Montenegro is the executive branch of state authority in Montenegro. It is headed by the prime minister. It comprises the prime minister, the deputy prime ministers as well as ministers....
where he also performed the vice-prime minister duties. His parents live in Canada and are both engineers, his father Dusan holds a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in engineering and his mother Vesna has a masters degree in the same field, while his sister also has a masters degree. Raonic is fluent in two languages, speaking both Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
and English
Canadian English
Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 24 million Canadians , and more than 28 million are fluent in the language...
. His three favourite sports teams are Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid C.F.
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...
, Toronto Raptors
Toronto Raptors
The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...
, and Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League...
.
In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open it was questioned if he would follow in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski
Greg Rusedski
Gregory "Greg" Rusedski is a British Canadian former tennis player who turned professional in 1991 and played until his retirement on 7 April 2007, at the age of 33...
the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for his second nationality in Great Britain. When asked if he would continue to play for Canada he replied "Yes". Raonic has shown a passion for Canada and the game of tennis in the country. This was displayed in an October, 2010 interview where he said of the matter that "I want to make a singles career, I enjoy it more and I want to make a difference in Canada with it. 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."