162 Facts About Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic is a Canadian professional tennis player.

Milos Raonic has been ranked as high as world No 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved on 21 November 2016, making him the highest-ranked Canadian player in history.

Milos Raonic first gained widespread recognition by reaching the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open as a qualifier, where he was said to be the future of professional tennis.

Milos Raonic is the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP Tour title, to be ranked in the top 10, and to qualify for the ATP Tour Finals.

Milos Raonic is frequently described as having one of the best serves among his contemporaries.

Milos Raonic was born on December 27,1990, in Titograd, SFR Yugoslavia, and is of Serb heritage.

Milos Raonic's parents are both engineers; his father, Dusan, holds a Ph.

Milos Raonic has two older siblings: his sister, Jelena, is eleven years older, while his brother, Momir, is nine years older.

Milos Raonic's uncle, Branimir Gvozdenovic, is a politician in the Government of Montenegro, where he has served as Deputy Prime Minister.

Milos Raonic moved to nearby Thornhill, Ontario soon after, and one or two years passed before he asked his parents if he could play again.

Milos Raonic's father sought out coach Casey Curtis at the Blackmore Tennis Club in neighbouring Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Curtis was at first reluctant to take on Milos Raonic, but was convinced after Milos Raonic demonstrated his commitment by working with his father and a ball machine daily for two months.

Years later, Milos Raonic said he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad".

Late in 2007, at the age of 16, Milos Raonic moved to Montreal as one of the first group of players at Tennis Canada's new National Tennis Centre, thus marking the end of his formal relationship with Curtis.

Milos Raonic played in the 2016 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game held in Toronto.

Milos Raonic worked for Rogers Sportsnet as an analyst while recovering from injury for their broadcast of the 2011 Canadian Open.

Milos Raonic was in a relationship with Canadian model Danielle Knudson.

Milos Raonic first competed at a junior event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation in October 2003 at the age of 12.

Pospisil and Milos Raonic partnered at four more junior tournaments, including the 2008 Wimbledon Championships and the 2008 French Open, reaching the semifinals in the latter.

Except for reaching the semifinals at the 2008 French Open in doubles, Milos Raonic did not advance past the second round of junior Grand Slam events.

Milos Raonic's career-high combined junior ranking, which considers both singles and doubles results, was No 35.

Milos Raonic played his first professional circuit match in the qualifying draw of an ITF Futures tournament in Toronto in October 2005 at the age of 14; he won his first professional circuit main draw match at an ITF Futures tournament in Gatineau, Quebec, in March 2007 against Fabrice Martin.

Milos Raonic played his first professional circuit doubles match at the same tournament, partnered with Pospisil again.

Milos Raonic lost his first ATP Challenger Tour match in Granby, Quebec, in July 2007 against Gary Lugassy.

Milos Raonic won his first ITF Futures doubles title in Gatineau, Quebec in March 2008, and reached his first ITF Futures singles final two weeks later in Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Milos Raonic received a wildcard to the qualifying tournament of the 2008 Canadian Open, but lost in the first round to Alexander Kudryavtsev.

Milos Raonic reached the top100 in January 2011, around five months later than the target deadline.

Milos Raonic thus turned down the scholarships and turned professional, agreeing to be represented by the sports agency SFX.

Milos Raonic won his first ITF Futures singles title in March 2009 in Montreal.

Milos Raonic added three more singles titles and five doubles titles at the ITF Futures level in 2009 and 2010.

Milos Raonic was less successful at the ATP Challenger level, tallying only one title.

At the ATP World Tour level, Milos Raonic gained entry into few tournaments, compiling a main draw record of three wins and five losses over nearly two and half years.

In 2009, Milos Raonic again received a wildcard for the qualifying tournament of the Canadian Open.

Less than a month later, Milos Raonic gained entry into a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the 2010 US Open.

Milos Raonic followed this with a second round victory over No 31 Sergiy Stakhovsky.

In November 2009, with Milos Raonic's world ranking at No 377, Tennis Canada hired recently retired former player Frederic Niemeyer to coach Milos Raonic and travel with him for 18 weeks during the 2010 season.

Over this period, Milos Raonic climbed from No 237 to No 155.

Tennis Canada hired Blanco, and Milos Raonic moved to Barcelona to train with Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella.

Milos Raonic began this climb by qualifying for the Australian Open main draw.

Two weeks later, Milos Raonic won his first ATP title at the Pacific Coast Championships, with victories over No 45 Xavier Malisse, No 170 James Blake, No 74 Ricardas Berankis, and No 9 Fernando Verdasco.

Milos Raonic's victory was the first ATP title by a Canadian since Greg Rusedski in 1995.

Milos Raonic defeated Verdasco for the second time in three days in the first round, and No 17 Mardy Fish in the semifinal.

Milos Raonic reached the third round at both the Indian Wells Masters and the Monte-Carlo Masters.

Milos Raonic was seeded for the first time at a Grand Slam event at the French Open, but lost in the first round to Michael Berrer.

At the Halle Open, Milos Raonic reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final, partnered with Robin Haase.

Milos Raonic's only significant result in the latter half of 2011 after returning from injury was a semifinal appearance at the Stockholm Open, where he lost to Gael Monfils.

Milos Raonic began 2012 with titles in two of his first three tournaments, starting with his second ATP title at the Chennai Open in India.

Milos Raonic had back-to-back wins over top10 players at a tournament for the first time, beating Nicolas Almagro in the semifinals and Janko Tipsarevic in the final.

Milos Raonic held serve during the entire tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Federer at the 2008 Halle Open.

Milos Raonic lost in the third round of the Australian Open to Lleyton Hewitt.

On each occasion, Milos Raonic won the first set before losing the next two.

Milos Raonic lost to Juan Monaco in the third round of the French Open, and followed this with a second round loss to Querrey at Wimbledon.

At the US Open, Milos Raonic lost in the fourth round to eventual champion Murray.

Milos Raonic was the first Canadian male to reach the fourth round of the US Open since Laurendeau in 1988.

In 2012, Milos Raonic led the ATP in points won on 1st serve and in service games won.

Milos Raonic finished the year at a career high singles ranking of No 13.

Milos Raonic reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, falling to No 2 Federer.

Milos Raonic again achieved success at ATP 250 and ATP 500 events.

Milos Raonic is the only man in the Open Era to win three consecutive singles titles at this event.

In eight of the nine ATP 1000 events, Milos Raonic matched or improved on his career-best performance.

Milos Raonic did not report his error to the umpire, and won the last nine points to close out the match.

In 2013, Milos Raonic again led the ATP in points won on first serve and in service games won.

Milos Raonic had 45 match victories for the second consecutive year.

Less than a month later, Milos Raonic hired former No 3 tennis player Ivan Ljubicic as his coach.

Milos Raonic opened 2014 by reaching the third round of the Australian Open, losing to Grigor Dimitrov.

Milos Raonic sustained an ankle injury that kept him out of action for six weeks.

Milos Raonic lost in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters to Nadal.

Milos Raonic reached the quarterfinals for the third ATP 1000 tournament in a row at the Monte-Carlo Masters, before falling to Wawrinka.

Milos Raonic lost in the third round of the Madrid Open to Nishikori.

At the Italian Open, Milos Raonic defeated Jeremy Chardy in the quarterfinals to reach his first Masters 1000 semifinal on clay.

At the French Open, Milos Raonic was seeded in the top eight for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament.

Milos Raonic notched victories against Nick Kyrgios, Jiri Vesely, Gilles Simon, and Marcel Granollers to reach the quarterfinals of a major for the first time in his career, becoming the first Canadian man to do so in the Open Era.

Milos Raonic lost in the quarterfinals to Djokovic in straight sets.

Milos Raonic became the first Canadian men's singles player to reach the semifinals at a major since Robert Powell in 1908.

Milos Raonic won his first three matches to face rival Nishikori in the fourth round.

The five set match lasted 4 hours and 19 minutes, with Milos Raonic losing and Nishikori advancing to the quarterfinals.

Three years prior, in 2011, Milos Raonic had set a personal goal of reaching the year-end ATP Finals, where only the top eight players earned a spot.

Milos Raonic beat Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut to set up a quarterfinals match against No 2 Federer, who had beaten him in all six previous meetings.

Milos Raonic lost to Djokovic in the final, but secured his place in the 2014 ATP Finals.

Milos Raonic is the first Canadian to reach the ATP Finals, and the first player born in the 1990s to do so.

Anticlimactically, Milos Raonic withdrew from the tournament due to a leg-muscle tear prior to his match against Nishikori, after losses to Federer and Murray.

Milos Raonic ended the year at a career-high season-ending ranking of No 8.

Milos Raonic was one of just three players to reach the quarterfinals or better at seven of the nine ATP 1000 tournaments.

Milos Raonic finished with a career-high total of 1107 aces in 2014.

Milos Raonic began 2015 by reaching the final at the Brisbane International after defeating No 5 Nishikori in three sets, all decided in tiebreaks.

Milos Raonic lost to No 2 Federer in three sets, with Federer recording his 1,000th match win on the professional tour.

At the Indian Wells Masters, Milos Raonic won his quarterfinal match against No 3 Nadal, after saving three match points from Nadal in the second set tiebreak.

Just one game into his second-round match against Tommy Robredo, Milos Raonic called for a medical timeout due to a right foot injury.

Ironically, Milos Raonic's world ranking reached a new career-high of No 4 the following week, the highest by a Canadian man or woman.

Milos Raonic returned in time for the grass court season.

Milos Raonic lost in the quarterfinals in his Queen's debut, and lost in the third round at Wimbledon.

Milos Raonic's serve was broken just once in the entire tournament.

In late November, Milos Raonic parted ways with both Ljubicic, who had been his coach since June 2013, and Austin Nunn, who had been his media manager for nearly four years.

Milos Raonic contacted former No 1 tennis player Carlos Moya about a coaching relationship, and they trained together and had discussions during the IPTL events.

The relationship was formalized and on January 1,2016, Milos Raonic announced that Moya would join his coaching team alongside Piatti.

Milos Raonic reached the final of the Brisbane International against No 3 Federer in a rematch of their 2015 final.

Milos Raonic then beat Monfils in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the Australian Open for the first time in his career.

Milos Raonic became the first Canadian man to reach the Australian Open semifinals.

Milos Raonic returned to action at the Indian Wells Masters, reaching the final against No 1 Djokovic with a string of four victories over top20 opponents: Bernard Tomic, Berdych, Monfils, and David Goffin.

Milos Raonic's serve was phenomenal before the start of this season, but it seems like he has improved even more, especially the second serve.

Milos Raonic followed Indian Wells by reaching the quarterfinals at the next three ATP 1000 events in Miami, Monte Carlo, and Madrid, eventually losing to Kyrgios, Murray, and Djokovic, respectively.

Milos Raonic continued the clay court season with a second-round loss at the Italian Open to Kyrgios.

Milos Raonic began the grass court season by advancing to his first grass court final at the Queen's Club Championships without dropping serve in victories over Kyrgios, Vesely, Bautista Agut, and Tomic, but lost the final in three sets to Murray.

At Wimbledon, Milos Raonic won his first three matches in straight sets against Pablo Carreno Busta, Andreas Seppi, and Sock.

Milos Raonic then beat Querrey in the quarterfinals and Federer in the semifinals, marking Federer's first defeat in 11 Wimbledon semifinals.

Milos Raonic was the fifth seed at the US Open, but lost in the second round to Ryan Harrison, partly due to debilitating cramps.

Later that month, Milos Raonic failed to defend his title at the St Petersburg Open, falling in his opening match to Youzhny.

Milos Raonic withdrew from the China Open prior to his semifinal match due to an ankle injury sustained in the quarterfinal.

Milos Raonic suffered another injury, a quadriceps tear, during his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Paris Masters and withdrew before his scheduled semifinal against Murray.

At the ATP World Tour Finals, Milos Raonic lost to Djokovic, but beat Monfils and Thiem in round robin play to qualify for his first Tour Finals semifinal.

Milos Raonic lost the semifinal match to Murray in 3 hours and 38 minutes, the longest match on the ATP Tour in 2016 and the longest match in World Tour Finals history.

Milos Raonic rose to a career-high No 3, finishing the year behind only Murray and Djokovic.

At his first tournament of the season, the Brisbane International, Milos Raonic reached the semifinals with wins over Diego Schwartzman and Rafael Nadal in the first two rounds.

Milos Raonic lost in the fourth round of the French Open to Pablo Carreno Busta in a five-set marathon.

Milos Raonic then had to withdraw from various tournaments, including the US Open, due to injury.

Milos Raonic began his season at the Brisbane International as the fourth seed.

Milos Raonic lost in the second round to Alex de Minaur in straight sets.

Milos Raonic then went on to compete at the 2018 Australian Open, where he lost in the opening round to Lukas Lacko in four sets.

Milos Raonic easily beat Taro Daniel in the first round but went on to lose to Steve Johnson in straight sets in the next round.

At Indian Wells, Milos Raonic reached his first Masters 1000 semifinal since November 2016 in Paris with wins over compatriot Felix Auger-Aliassime, Joao Sousa, Marcos Baghdatis by walkover and Sam Querrey, respectively in the first rounds.

Milos Raonic was defeated by Juan Martin del Potro in straight sets.

Milos Raonic did not compete at the French Open because of a knee injury.

Milos Raonic defeated Nick Kyrgios in the first round in straight sets and narrowly defeated 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka in four close tiebreak sets in the second round.

Milos Raonic started the match dominantly, winning 12 of the first 14 games to take a two-set lead.

Zverev played a competitive third set, but Milos Raonic ultimately won in a tiebreak.

Milos Raonic announced his split with coach Goran Ivanisevic, and will now be coached by French former ATP player Fabrice Santoro.

Milos Raonic started his 2020 at Qatar open in Doha where he was seeded 4th.

Milos Raonic then participated in 2020 Australian Open, where he defeated Lorenzo Giustino, Cristian Garin, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Marin Cilic before losing to Novak Djokovic at the quarter-final stage in straight sets.

In February 2020, Milos Raonic participated in New York Open where he was seeded second, but he lost to Soonwoo Kwon in his first match at the tournament.

Milos Raonic found form at the 2020 Cincinnati Masters, where he defeated Sam Querrey, Daniel Evans, and a resurgent Andy Murray, all in straight sets.

Milos Raonic defeated 4th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to reach his fourth Masters 1000 final.

Milos Raonic lost to Novak Djokovic in 3 sets in the final.

Milos Raonic opened his 2021 campaign at the 2021 ATP Cup representing team Canada alongside countrymen Denis Shapovalov, Steven Diez and Peter Polansky.

Canada was drawn into a round robin group with teams Serbia and Germany, and Milos Raonic was penciled in as the number 2 player.

Milos Raonic struggled with calf and right leg injuries for most of the year.

Early in his career, Milos Raonic was questioned about whether he would follow the example of Rusedski, the last prominent Canadian tennis player, who decided to represent Great Britain instead.

Milos Raonic embraced his role as Canada's top singles player, intent on growing the game in Canada.

Milos Raonic represented Canada in 11 of those ties, missing five due to injury: Ecuador in 2011, Japan in 2014, Belgium in 2015, and France and Chile in 2016.

Milos Raonic is one of the most successful players in Canadian Davis Cup history, tied for sixth in match wins overall and for third in singles match wins.

Milos Raonic made his Davis Cup debut in Bogota against Colombia in 2010 at the age of 19.

Milos Raonic lost both of his singles matches, but won his doubles match partnered with Nestor, who was then the top ranked doubles player in the world.

Milos Raonic repeated this feat with victories over Fabio Fognini and Seppi to help Canada defeat Italy in the quarterfinals, sending Canada into the Davis Cup semifinals for the first time since 1913.

Milos Raonic represented Canada at the London 2012 Olympics and competed in the singles competition as an unseeded player.

Milos Raonic won his first-round match over Japan's Tatsuma Ito in straight sets.

Milos Raonic decided not to play in the 2016 Summer Olympics, citing health concerns and the Zika virus.

In 2014, Milos Raonic partnered with Bouchard to represent Canada in the Hopman Cup.

Milos Raonic won two of three singles matches, and paired with Bouchard to win two of three doubles matches.

The most distinctive part of Milos Raonic's game is his powerful and accurate serve, from which his "Missile" nickname is derived.

Milos Raonic is frequently cited as having one of the best serves among his contemporaries, along with Karlovic and Isner.

Some consider Milos Raonic's serve to be among the best of all time.

Milos Raonic has one of the fastest recorded serves of all time.

Milos Raonic's groundstrokes are both good, but his forehand is stronger than his backhand.

Milos Raonic prefers playing on hard courts, where he has been more successful than on clay or grass courts.

All but two of the tournaments where Milos Raonic has reached the final have been played on hard courts, and all but three of his victories over top10 players have been on hard courts as well.

Milos Raonic endorses the Wilson BLX Blade 98 18x20 tennis racket, and uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L strings.

Since March 2014, Milos Raonic has donned a sleeve on his right arm while playing.

Milos Raonic is represented by CAA Sports, a division of Creative Artists Agency.

Milos Raonic has met only one of the four in Davis Cup play: he lost to Djokovic in the 2013 semifinals.

Nishikori and Milos Raonic are among a group of players whom tennis pundits suggest could be the successors of the Big Four.

Milos Raonic holds a positive record against Gulbis and Thiem, having won on all six combined occasions, but has a negative record against Cilic and Dimitrov, having lost four matches to the latter in six meetings, including one walkover.

In 2011, while recovering from a hip injury sustained at Wimbledon, Milos Raonic decided to become involved with philanthropic work, focusing on helping disadvantaged children.

Note: Milos Raonic has not played doubles at any Grand Slam tournament.