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John McEnroe to join Team Milos to add expertise during the grass-court season

John McEnroe to join Team Milos to add expertise during the grass-court season

PARIS – Milos Raonic CANNOT be serious!

Or can he?

The Canadian tennis star, who will leave no stone unturned and overlook no small detail in his quest to be the best tennis player he can be, will have serve-and-volley genius John McEnroe on board during the upcoming grass-court season.

The news wasn't meant to come out during the French Open, as the focus for Raonic is on this Grand Slam event. But the 57-year-old American former player announced it during his French Open show on Eurosport Friday.

Good luck telling Johnny Mac to zip it for a week or so. It's Mac's world, Milos; you're just living in it.

All kidding aside, it's a move that can only help, and will certainly add an element of interest and intrigue to Raonic's grass-court campaign.

The Raonic camp has yet to confirm it, but we're told it is a done deal.

McEnroe is generally a commentator on the BBC during the Wimbledon fortnight. But this type of gig isn't a full-time job.  His coaching experience is limited, even though he has often put it out there that he'd be interested – most recently about rising Aussie star Nick Kyrgios. A couple of years ago, McEnroe's name sort of came up when Andy Murray was on a coaching search.

About 20 years ago, McEnroe briefly worked with Boris Becker and has done a little bit here and there; his long-desired stint as the captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team was pretty disastrous and short-lived.

Raonic already has his full-time, day-to-day coach in Ricardo Piatti. And he brought former No. 1 and French Open champion Carlos Moyá on board this year as a consultant for about 15 weeks a year, mostly around the Grand Slam tournaments.

But while Moyá did get to the fourth round at Wimbledon on one occasion, that's obviously not where his strengths lie. McEnroe's wizardry around the net can't really be taught, but if there is anything he can impart to Raonic to perfect his already-improving forecourt game, that can only be a plus.

The only surprising thing is that no one has done this before. There certainly are a ton of players out there who could use the expertise.

...more to come.