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A relaxed, confident Milos Raonic brings his new trademark smile to Wimbledon, starting Monday
WIMBLEDON – The level of chill surrounding Canadian Milos Raonic in the leadup to this year’s Wimbledon cannot be overstated.
The 25-year-old is as serious as a heart attack about his career, driven and ambitious and as serious as they come. But somehow, the addition of John McEnroe for the grass-court season and the seemingly instant chemistry between McEnroe, coach Carlos Moyá and Raonic himself, has brought out a whole new dimension to his on-court personality.
The addition of McEnroe also hasn’t hurt his profile or the level of interest in him, which is a side benefit.
You could see it at Queen’s Club their first tournament together, as Raonic unveiled an on-court smile that hadn’t been seen since he’s been on tour. He was like the smiling assassin out there and he brought it all the way to the final, where he was a set and 3-0 up on world No. 2 Andy Murray before finally losing in three sets.
These last few days of practice at the All-England Club have been more of the same.
What’s with the smile?
McEnroe alluded to it last week, that he felt a certain envy towards Roger Federer for his ability to seemingly enjoy his career in extraordinary fashion, with little of the angst and stress that characterized his own career.
“I think that was definitely the first thing he told me when we sat down and discussed everything, and it was probably the thing that took me back the most. You see John, a guy that has achieved so much. To hear that from him was a bit of a surprise. I definitely didn’t want to have that regret. He’s always constantly repeating, ‘Have fun with it, have fun with it.’ It’s a good feeling. It’s much more enjoyable to be out there,” Raonic said Saturday.
"I don’t know if was completely conscious. But you put in a good week of work, you’re having fun, you’re being positive on court, and I think it carries through,” he added. “It just felt it was the state of mind I was in. I was playing well, and I was getting better and better with each match. Things were going the way I liked it as well.”
Raonic had two practices Saturday – an initial warmup over at the Aorangi Park practice courts, followed by a session on the larger match court, No. 3 court.
At the end of the first session, he just sat on the grass and watched as his two coaches, both former No. 1s and former Grand Slam champions, went at it tooth and nail in a winner-take-all tiebreak.
Raonic just sat there and laughed at his serve-and-volleying board of directors, saying later that it was something that had first come up at dinner the previous night.
Moyá, younger by more than 15 years, was the winner – to McEnroe’s great consternation. He joked Sunday that he had no choice; if he didn’t win, he would never heard the end of it.
When the two moved over to the bigger court, they spent some time in rapid volley-volley exchanges, with the two masters on one side of the court and Raonic on the other.
Beyond what it’s bringing to Raonic’s game, it all just looks like fun. No wonder he’s smiling ear-to-ear.
“John has been very helpful, and as much as he’s been talking with me he’s been talking first with Riccardo (Piatti), now with Carlos. And he’s gotten to know what they believe I need, and he’s had his own inputs and opinions that he has tried to incorporate into my tennis, and it’s been working out well so far,” Raonic said. “Even when we spoke before we started working together, they were all the next steps I needed to take to really make a difference in my game. Not just about what I can do on the court, but how and where I can place myself, and use my game to make opponents feel worse and worse in match situations.”
Sunday, the final day before Raonic takes the court for his first-round match Monday against Pablo Carreño Busta of Spain, was more relaxed.
Raonic found himself practicing next to Roger Federer and his coach Ivan Ljubicic (Raonic’s former coach), although unfortunately there was no interaction to speak of between the two courts. Federer appeared to know Goffin and coach Thierry Van Cleemput (and Goffin’s own former-player consultant Thomas Johansson) quite well, so they all greeted each other in very friendly fashion. But Team Raonic and Team Federer basically kept to their own sides.
Only once, when a run for a ball out wide sent Federer hurtling onto Raonic’s court just as the Canadian was about to serve, did McEnroe crack a joke.
“Let’s play a let, there,” he said.
With Federer and Novak Djokovic on Centre Court – Djokovic, as defending champion, does the traditional opening walk at 1 p.m. Wimbledon time – and Kei Nishikori on Court 1 along with two women’s matches, Raonic got the next-best slot, on No. 2 Court. He should be on around 4:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. EDT).
He shouldn’t be too troubled by Carreño Busta, one of the many Spaniards who pay lip service to the grass but don’t make the commitment during the short grass-court season to play much on it.
His first big-challenge may not come before the third round, when he could play big-hitting No. 27 seed Jack Sock, or the always dangerous Ernests Gulbis of Latvia.
Meanwhile, he’s been getting some good coverage in the British papers; the Daily Mail, notably, had a spread on his serve that featured a shirtless Raonic – with the shortest shorts we’ve ever seen on him as they rolled them up – going through the motions with an accompanying analysis of his big weapon.
Check it out here; It’s definitely ... unique. He's definitely a pretty good sport.
