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A year makes a lot of difference when it comes to playing sport at any level, but especially pro.
This past week saw him come within a few points of defeating Novak Djokovic at the Masters 1000 event in Rome but fell in set’s 7-6 (5), 6-7 (4), 3-6.
He was born in Podgorica a city in Montenegro in 1990 when his family relocated to Toronto in 1994 or he was a young four-year-old.
As a young 24-year-old, he (currently) resides in Monte Carlo to get the best of both worlds when playing tennis.
Milos began playing tennis at age nine and played his first tennis tournament at age 10 in Toronto.
When he was 16, he grew into one of Canada’s top juniors and was invited to be one of the first to join Tennis Canada’s National Training Centre spending three years training with Canada’s top juniors in Montreal.
He was one of three Canadians to reach the fourth round at a Grand Slam champion when he reached the last 16 as a qualifier at the 2011 Australian Open as a 20 years old.
In 2011 he was named as newcomer of the Year at the ATP World Tour Awards after advancing from No. 156 (Emirates ATP Rankings) to No. 31 in November of 2011.
Raonic has won 80 % of his first-serve points on clay this season leading the ATP Tour, which is up from the 76 % last season.
He is a more complete player than the one three years ago at the Australian Open which saw him advance to the fourth round.
That is the furthest he has advanced at a major which is a feat he has reached four times, including twice at the US Open and once more at the Australian Open in 2013.
It is also the furthest for any Canadian tennis player who has advanced in the singles competition at a Grand Slam event.
His progress is inspiring and many amateurs are using him as a professional to look up to. His techniques have improved dramatically, and you could improve your techniques too by looking at the tips available on radrackets and sites similar. Who knows how much progress you could make in a year?
All signs point to more change being made soon as he is looking to break another Canadian tennis barrier.
He managed to beat Andy Murray, who was seeded seventh at Roland Garros, earlier this season at Indian Wells., so that is another goal of his.
He took Rafael Nadal to three sets at a hard-court event in Miami this season and as he enters the years second Grand Slam, his level of confidence against the game’s elite is nothing short of confident.
Raonic could (might) get another shot at Djokovic if the draw holds to form and both make it to the quarterfinals, although the road there for the Canadian is littered with tricky propositions.
He’ll open the tournament against Australian wildcard Nicholas Kyrgios and is currently ranked 161st, but had everyone talking in Melbourne at the season’s first major.
This is the one that he upset Benjamin Becker in the first round before falling to Benoit Paire, a top-30 player, in five sets in the second round.
The second round might see him face 53rd-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol and in the third round he could face Gilles Simon but the court conditions might favor the Frenchman.
If Raonic advances to the round of 16, a showdown with ninth-seed Kei Nishikori is possible.
This tennis sensation from Japan is 2-0 against Raonic and recently beat him in Madrid in eventual straight sets that both went to a tiebreak.
A Canadian man has never made the fourth round at Roland Garros so history seems possible for Raonic, but a lot of factors are needed before making the next step.