Milos Raonic: Difference between revisions
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==Personal== |
==Personal== |
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Raonic moved together with his family to Canada from Montenegro at the age of 3. He is |
Raonic moved together with his family to Canada from Montenegro at the age of 3. He is Montenegrin. <ref name="2010 AO Open interview"/> Raonic started playing tennis at the early age of 8 at the Blackmore Tennis club in [[Richmond Hill]], Ontario.<ref>{{citenews|title=Serving up Aces: Milos Ranoic's explosive serve |author=Morgan, Campbell |url= http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/article/926568--serving-up-aces-milos-ranoic-s-explosive-serve |publisher= [[Toronto Star]] |date=21 January, 2011 |accessdate=2011-01-21}}</ref> His brother and sister have moved back to Montenegro and Raonic says he visits his family there often.<ref name="2010 AO Open interview"/> 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-president duties.<ref name="Youzhny"/><ref>{{citeweb|title=Thornhill's Raonic piling up aces and upsets in Melbourne |author=Mark Zwolinski |url= http://www.thestar.com/sports/tennis/article/926697--thornhill-s-raonic-piling-up-aces-and-upsets-in-melbourne?bn=1 |publisher=[[Toronto Star]] |date=22 January, 2011 |accessdate=2011-01-23}}</ref> His parents both live in Canada and are both engineers, his father holds a [[PhD]] in engineering and his mother has a [[masters degree]] in the same field. His sister also has a masters degree.<ref name="2010 AO Open interview"/> |
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In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open he was asked if he would follow in the footsteps of [[Greg Rusedski]] the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for [[Great Britain]]. When asked if he would play for Canada Raonic replied "Yes".<ref name="2010 AO Open interview"/> |
In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open he was asked if he would follow in the footsteps of [[Greg Rusedski]] the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for [[Great Britain]]. When asked if he would play for Canada Raonic replied "Yes".<ref name="2010 AO Open interview"/> |
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Revision as of 22:35, 23 January 2011
 | This article possibly contains original research. (January 2011) |
 | |
| Country (sports) |  Canada[1] |
|---|---|
| Residence | Thornhill, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Plays | Right-handed |
| Prize money | $124,433 |
| Singles | |
| Career record | 4–7 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 152 (January 17, 2011) |
| Current ranking | No. 152 (January 17, 2011) |
| Grand Slam singles results | |
| Australian Open | 4R (2011) |
| US Open | 1R (2010) |
| Doubles | |
| Career record | 2–1 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup) |
| Career titles | 0 |
| Highest ranking | No. 284 (November 2, 2009) |
| Last updated on: January 17, 2011. | |
Milos Raonic (Serbian: Miloš Raonić, Милош Раонић, born December 27, 1990, Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Canadian professional tennis player from Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.[1][2]
Raonic is ranked, according to the ATP, as Canada's highest singles player. He has improved as of late, qualifying for three consecutive, and his first ever, ATP World Tour events, including the U.S. Open. Milos is coached by former pro player Spaniard Galo Blanco.[3]
Junior tennis career
Raonic first ITF-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 Russian-Canadian Kirill Sinitsyn 6-7, 3-6. His next 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.
Milos 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 partner 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, Milos 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 Milos lost early in the Grade 2 and Grade 1 junior events he entered. He 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. Milos began 2008 with a bang in juniors, winning the Grade 1 Nottingham 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.
Senior tennis career
2007
Raonic was given wild cards into three Tennis Canada and Banque Nationale sponsored ITF Futures events in March, held indoors in the Province of Quebec. In Hull he won his first ever singles match 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.
Milos 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.
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 Gatineau, he and partner Milan Pokrajac, unseeded, won the doubles title, while in singles Milos 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 Milos 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. Milos 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 Milos 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 Hiroko Kondo 4-6, 2-6. In doubles he and partner Tadayuki Longhi reached the second round. The following week at Japan F11 in Tokyo, Milos 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. Milos finished 2008 World No. 915 in singles and No. 513 in doubles.
2010
Raonic started the 2010 season with new coach and former teammate Frédéric Niemeyer.[2] 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 March Milos was upset early, as the No. 2 seed in singles at Canada F2 in Montreal, losing to unheralded Belgian qualifier Arthur De Greef in the first round. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil, the top seeds, lost in the second round. The following week at Canada F3, again as the No. 2 seed, Raonic lost the finals to No. 1 seed Pospisil in three sets. In doubles, he and Pospisil, again the No. 1 seeds, also lost in the final. The week after Raonic competed in singles and doubles, unseeded in both, at the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale in Rimouski. In singles, as a wildcard entrant, he lost to Australian Marinko Matosevic in the first round, while in doubles he and Pospisil withdrew before their first round match.
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. He did not play doubles. The following week, also just playing singles and as the No. 5 seed, Raonic lost in the quarter-finals, to China No. 2 Ze Zhang.
In May Milos captured his second title in three weeks, dropping just one set in taking Korea F4. The following week he lost to face No. 8 seed Tatsuma Ito in the first round of the 2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis tournament. He again did not play doubles. Despite the loss he saw his singles ranking reach a career high for the second time in two weeks, at World No. 303. This ranking leaves him just one spot behind compatriot and former junior doubles partner Vasek Pospisil. Off two weeks ago Milos lost in the first round of the 2010 LA Tennis Open USTA Men's Challenger, playing as an alternate entrant, 6-7 in the third to up-and-coming Australian Nick Lindahl. In doubles he and partner Peter Polansky lost in the first round.
In June Raonic defeated fellow unseeded player Takao Suzuki 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the 2010 Weil Tennis Academy Challenger but lost to Luka Gregorc in the second, in three sets. He did not play doubles. His ranking reached yet another new career high, World No. 294. After a few weeks off, he qualified for the main draw of the 2010 Nielsen Pro Tennis Championship. In the main draw he beat Tatsuma Ito and compatriot Peter Polansky, the later in three sets, before succumbing to eventual champion and No. 4 seed Brian Dabul, despite taking the first set. In doubles he and partner Sergei Bubka lost in the second round.
In late June Raonic lost in the second round of qualifying for the 2010 Hall of Fame Tennis Championships to Bubka, who went on to qualify. He and Bubka did not compete in doubles here however. The following week Raonic reached a new career high singles ranking, World No. 276, and reached the second round of the 2010 Comerica Bank Challenger where he lost to No. 5 seed Ilija Bozoljac after going up a set. He also reached the second round in doubles, partnering compatriot Peter Polansky. The next week he again achieved a new career high singles ranking, World No. 267. On the court he had defeated fellow Canadian and unseeded player Vasek Pospisil in the first round of the Fifth Third Bank Tennis Championships, 7-6(4), 6-1 and lost to Alex Kuznetsov retired while trailing 3-6, 0-1. Mildly injured, he and Polansky withdrew from their second round match.
In July Raonic reached the singles finals of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby. He beat compatriot Philip Bester, 6-4, 7-5 in the first round, No.3 seed Carlos Salamanca in the second, 7-6(7), 6-1, No. 7 seed Paul Capdeville in the quarters, and No. 2 seed Go Soeda in the semi-finals, 6-2, 2-6, 7-6(5) before falling to No. 1 seed Tobias Kamke in the final 3-6, 6-7. This result saw Milos'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. He only played singles again. Granted a wild card into the singles main draw of the 2010 Rogers Cup, Milos has 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.
After a week off, Raonic beat No. 31 seed Mischa Zverev, 6-4, 6-3, Alex Bogomolov, Jr., 6-2, 7-6, and No. 8 seed David Guez, 7-5, 6-4 in singles qualifying for the U.S. Open. He lost however his main draw first round match to Australia No. 3 and wild card entrant Carsten Ball, 7-6(4), 3-6, 3-6, 2-6. Two weekends later Raonic, versus the Dominican Republic, won his singles match, 9-7 in the fifth over Victor Estrella, as Canada won the tie 5-0 to stay in the Americas Zone Group 1 for 2011. After a week off, Mllos beat Tatsuma Ito, 7-6(4), 6-2, in the qualifying round of the 2010 Proton Malaysian Open. In the first round of main draw, Milos upset Igor Kunitsyn 7-6(6), 6-3, and rallied to upset No. 7 seed Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7(8), 7-6(9), 6-3 in the second round, before losing to Igor Andreev, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, in the quarterfinals.
One week later, Raonic has defeated No. 6 seed Thiago Alves and No. 2 Marsel Ilhan, both times in straight sets, to qualify for the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship. This was his third ATP World Tour event he qualified for ever and in a row as well. After a first round win over Florent Serra, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, he lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the second round, 4-6, 4-6. Milos 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 Milos, none of his five.
The following week, the second week of October, Milos was right back in action. Unseeded, he 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 3-6, 0-1. After a couple of weeks off, Raonic lost in the first round of qualifying for the 500 Series 2010 Valencia Open 500, to No. 2 seed Pablo Cuevas 6-1, 4-6, 5-7. He has been off from tour play since.
2011
For the 2011 season Raonic again switched coaches, this time under the guidance of Spanish coach Gale Blanco.[4] Raonic started 2011 playing qualifying matches for Aircel Chennai Open where he lost in the 3rd qual round against Édouard Roger-Vasselin 7-6(2), 3-6, 7-6(5). Then he successfully qualified for the 2011 Australian Open. He won his first round match against German Björn Phau, 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(8), his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match. In the second round he defeated No. 22 seed Michaël Llodra of France, 7-6(3), 6-3, 7-6(4), becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam.[5] He then knocked out the Russian World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in four sets (6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4) to reach the fourth round, the first qualifier to make the 4th round of a Grand Slam since 1999.[3] He will play world #7 David Ferrer next.
Personal
Raonic moved together with his family to Canada from Montenegro at the age of 3. He is Montenegrin. [2] Raonic started playing tennis at the early age of 8 at the Blackmore Tennis club in Richmond Hill, Ontario.[6] His brother and sister have moved back to Montenegro and Raonic says he visits his family there often.[2] 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-president duties.[3][7] His parents both live in Canada and are both engineers, his father holds a PhD in engineering and his mother has a masters degree in the same field. His sister also has a masters degree.[2]
In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open he was asked if he would follow in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for Great Britain. When asked if he would play for Canada Raonic replied "Yes".[2]
Singles finals (8)
Titles (4)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 (0) |
| ATP Challenger Tour (0) |
| ITF Futures (4) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 9 March 2009 | Canada F2 (Montreal)
|
Hard (Indoor) |  Gregoire Burquier
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| 2. | 24 August 2009 |  Thailand F2 (Nonthaburi or Bangkok)
|
Hard | Laurent Rochette
|
6–7(1), 7–6(1), 7–5 |
| 3. | 12–19 April 2010 |  Korea F2 (Daegu)
|
Hard |  Hiroki Kondo
|
6–1, 6–1 |
| 4. | 26 April – 3 May 2010 | Korea F4 (Gimcheon)
|
Hard |  Max Raditschnigg
|
6–4, 6–4 |
Runners-up (4)
| Legend (Singles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 (0) |
| Challengers (1) |
| Futures (3) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
| 1. | 17 March 2008 | Canada F3 (Sherbrooke)
|
Hard (Indoor) |  Enrico Iannuzzi
|
5–7, 6–7(4) |
| 2. | 17 August 2009 | Thailand F1 (Nonthaburi)
|
Hard | Kittipong Wachiramanowong
|
6–3, 4–6, 3–6 |
| 3. | 15 March 2010 | Canada F3 (Sherbrooke)
|
Hard (Indoor) | Vasek Pospisil
|
4–6, 6–4, 3–6 |
| 4. | 26 July 2010 | 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby
|
Hard |  Tobias Kamke
|
3–6, 6–7(4) |
Doubles titles (6)
| Legend (Doubles) |
| Grand Slam (0) |
| ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 500 (0) |
| ATP World Tour 250 (0) |
| ATP Challengers (1) |
| ITF Futures (5) |
| No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partner | Opponent in the final | Score in the final |
| 1. | 3 March 2008 | Canada F1 (Gatineau) | Hard (Indoor) | Milan Prokrajac
|
 Chris Klingemann Thomas Schoeck
|
7–6(2), 6–7(3), [10–8] |
| 2. | 3–9 November 2008 | Rimouski Challenger (Rimouski) | Hard | Vasek Pospisil
|
 Kristian Pless Michael Ryderstedt
|
5–7, 6–4 [10–6] |
| 3. | 30 March 2009 | U.S.A. F7, (Mobile, Alabama) | Hard | Philip Bester
|
Lester Cook Treat Conrad Huey
|
6–3, 1–6, [10-5] |
| 4. | 8 June 2009 | Slovenia F3 (Koper) | Clay |  Denys Molchanov
|
 Roman Jebavy David Novak
|
7–5, 5–7, [10–5] |
| 5. | 13–19 July 2009 | U.S.A. F17 (Peoria, Illinois) | Clay | Vasek Pospisil
|
 Matt Reid Dennis Zivkovic
|
6–3, 6–4 |
| 6. | 17–23 August 2009 | Thailand F1 (Nonthaburi) | Hard | Nikolaus Moser
|
Satoshi Iwabuchi Gouichi Motomura
|
0–6, 7–6(2), [10–3] |
References
- ^ a b "Milos Raonic ATP Profile". ATP World Tour. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ a b c d e f "AO: Milos Raonic Third-Round Press Conference". Tennis Connected. 22 January, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ a b c "Canadian Raonic stuns Youzhny at Aussie Open". CBC Sports. January 22, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
- ^ John Nye (19 January, 2011). "Thornhill's Raonic serves up major upset". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Canadian Raonic pulls Aussie Open upset". CBC. January 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-19.
- ^ Morgan, Campbell (21 January, 2011). "Serving up Aces: Milos Ranoic's explosive serve". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-01-21.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Mark Zwolinski (22 January, 2011). "Thornhill's Raonic piling up aces and upsets in Melbourne". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2011-01-23.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
External Links
- Milos Raonic at the Association of Tennis Professionals
- {{ITF profile}} template using deprecated numeric ID.
Template:Top ten Canadian male singles tennis players Template:Top ten Canadian male doubles tennis players