Milos Raonic is back at Wimbledon. The big-serve Canadian still doesn't have a Grand Slam under his belt, but in 2016 he got within touching distance when he reached the final — even beating Roger Federer along the way.
There's just something about the green grass of Wimbledon that works wonders for Raonic.
Despite an injury-hampered 2019, Raonic — who famously referred to himself as the CEO of Milos Raonic Tennis — goes into this year's tournament as the 15th seed and is, as always, powered by a rocket of a first serve that only seems to get faster on grass.
Could this be the year Raonic's master serve delivers? Here is everything you need to know about the Canadian Men's No.1.
The big-serve Canadian still doesn't have a Grand Slam under his belt, but Milos Raonic is hoping this is the year for him despite a number of injuries leading to Wimbledon.
Raonic was born in 1990 in Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia, which is now Podgorica, Montenegro. His family is of Serbian descent and the whole Raonic clan moved to Ontario, Canada when he was three, due to the political unrest in the Balkans.
His father, Dusan Raonic, an engineer with a PhD in electrical engineering, remembered how the March school break forced him and his wife, Vesna, a mechanical and computer engineer, to find an activity to preoccupy their three children, of which Milos is the youngest. They happened upon a flyer for a week-long tennis camp at Bramalea Tennis Club and so began Raonic's tennis journey.
When they sent the youngest Raonic to the camp, they had no idea they were really sending him onto the path to superstardom, where the little Canadian boy would grow up to be a 6-foot-5 superstar with a rocket launcher of a first serve and victories against the greatest players of the modern era including Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Two people who spotted Raonic’s raw power were Steve Gibson, the head instructor at Bramalea club, and Casey Curtis, who would train Raonic from the age of eight to 17.
Raonic turned professional in September 2008, with a first Grand Slam match coming in 2010
Curtis recalled meeting the eight-year-old Raonic, a small kid with a young face and big eyes and a ‘bag bigger than he was’. He told the Mail on Sunday back in 2016 that he only worked with advanced kids and Raonic had next to no tennis experience.
'He had such a young face and these big eyes but he was so determined. He said he wanted three sessions a week.
'I didn't really know what to think as I only worked with advanced kids and he'd never played. But we went on court to try him out.'
What happened next could have come straight out of a Hollywood film. Curtis was astounded by Raonic’s strength.
'He had this God-given power - he could just hit the ball so hard,' said Curtis.
‘He was hitting it so hard and you can't teach that. I was walking off the court and I said to my assistant, “This kid is going to be No 1 in the world”.'
In order to improve his technique, every day at 6am Raonic's father Dusan would start up the ball machine and Raonic would play for two hours. He would return to the court again at 9pm
At the time, Raonic was nowhere near good enough technically to be trained by Curtis, so he went away for two months and trained. Hard.
Every day at 6am Dusan would start up the ball machine and Raonic would play for two hours. They would return again at 9pm because that’s when the fees became affordable for the family.
'I wouldn't take any steps and would hit tennis balls from the standing position for two hours. My dad would walk around and keep filling up the machine so I wouldn't have to stop.'
Those two months of non-stop hard work paid off and paved the way for the following decade of training under Curtis.
Becoming CEO of Milos Raonic TennisRaonic turned pro in September 2008. His first Grand Slam tournament came two years later, when he qualified for the main draw of the US Open.
His first main draw singles win on the ATP Tour came two years after he turned pro in the Malaysian Open, when he beat World No. 105 Igor Kunitsyn.
In 2010, he made his Davis Cup
