Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic is something of an enigma as far as his potential and achievements are concerned. The Canadian tennis player of Serbian descent is a fine player, who possesses a playing style that is fit for all courts. He is arguably one of the most successful men’s singles player to come out of Canada and is a consistent threat, whether in ATP events or Grand Slams. Yet there remains a feeling he could have achieved so much more. A total of 8 ATP titles as well as consistent Grand Slam showings isn’t a poor career by any stretch of the imagination. However, there is a feeling he could have done more.

Nevertheless, his career has been a solid one. He notably turned down tennis scholarship opportunities during his time as an amateur, choosing instead to turn pro in 2008. Since then, his consistency sees him possess one of the best win percentages on the tour.

His first title came in the ATP 250 event at San Jose in 2011. It was a tournament that Raonic would go on to have considerable success in, as he won the title in 2012 and 2013 as well. Indeed, it was 2012 and 2013 that saw Raonic achieve most success in terms of titles won. He won the Chennai Open in 2012 and ATP event in Bangkok in 2013.

He won the ATP event at Washington in 2014, the ATP event at St. Petersburg in 2015 and the Brisbane ATP event in 2016. The win at Brisbane turned out to be his final title win as of now.

His Grand Slam record has been sketchy, despite the fact that he’s been a consistent force in ATP events. His best Grand Slam year was 2016, when he started the year by making it to the semi-finals of the Australian Open. He would lose to then-world number 2 Andy Murray, but only due to suffering an adductor injury while leading two sets to one.

He followed this up with finals appearances at both Queens and Wimbledon, although he ended up losing in both finals. Still, he knocked out Federer in the semis of Wimbledon before losing – once again – to Murray in the finals.

The most notable aspect of Raonic’s game is his serve. His distinct serve, featuring a mix of both accuracy and power, earned him the nickname ‘Rocket’. Many have stated that his service game is up there with the greatest players of all time, if not the greatest service game in the sport’s history. In fact, he’s won 91% of his service games – a staggering amount when you think about it.

His forehand is also extremely strong, and he noticeably prefers using that shot due to possessing a weaker backhand. Indeed, he is well known for avoiding the backhand by running further and playing an inside-out forehand return instead. He prefers short points and will often employ either a serve-and-volley or chip-and-charge style to end points quicker.

His game does possess some weaknesses, however. Aside from the forehand, there’s the fact that his return game is often weak and the fact that he’s not particularly mobile. This is down partly to his height, but it hinders his game significantly against players who make him run.

Australian Open – semi-finalist in 2016
French Open – quarterfinalist in 2014
Wimbledon – runner-up in 2016
US Open – fourth round in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018