Part 2: Milos Raonic thrives under a Spanish sun



Nestled among lush trees and set off beautiful rust-coloured cobblestone paths in the Barcelona suburb of St. Cugat del Vallès, Milos Raonic refined his tennis game last winter at a small academy in a tranquil setting, the kind place where a player can really work.

Many languages can be heard during a stroll around 4Slam Tennis academy, as a few exceptional teens from different parts of the world work meticulously on their skills. It's simple, but the opportunities have been vast: four clay courts, two hard courts, a clubhouse and a swimming pool with a gym and a modern student residence building a few minutes away by car.

From 17 on, Raonic trained in Montreal at Canada's National Training Centre, but to excel as a pro, he and his parents discussed the next step with Tennis Canada in the fall of 2010. They considered working with former American player Todd Martin or perhaps with Argentine coaches. They ultimately chose to work with former Spanish ATP pro Galo Blanco at the academy he runs with other ex Spanish pros.

The hard-working months in Spain in late 2010 elevated Raonic's game to another level, gave the now 20-year-old rising player new maturity, exposed him to the working habits of Spanish players, and kick-started his remarkable rise up the ATP world rankings.

“Once he met Galo and visited Spain, it was a good fit for him. It felt right away like family, and that's what he likes the most,” says his father, Dusan Raonic. “All of these top Spanish players accept him like family.”

Raonic settles in on a white leather sofa to do an interview in the private club lounge at the Real Club de Tennis Barcelona during a recent return to the city for a training day ahead of the Barcelona Open. His dark curls are still damp after showering off his morning practice. He's relaxed and conversational, but his day's work is far from over.

He feels at home in Barcelona, he says, listing off the many things he loves to soak in, like Antoni Gaudi's Sagrada Familia and Park Guell, along with the city's frenzied passion for FC Barcelona. He has an afternoon practice ahead and a fitness session too, not unlike the days he spent in Spain in the off-season, training, as his coach has often said, as hard as he's ever seen.

“What I love about it is the atmosphere and how competitive it is,” Raonic says. “I don't think in one place you'll find as many top players anywhere . Everybody here wants to be the best. It's a great atmosphere to be in and to improve in.”

PUTTING IN THE WORK

Blanco, the gregarious Spaniard, passes through the clay practice courts of the Barcelona Open, rarely passing a person he doesn't know on his way to an open fitness court where many players are working with trainers on a warm afternoon.

Trainer Toni Estalella is taking Raonic through footwork drills, speaking French, sharpening the Canadian's interest in languages. Raonic's size 14 Nikes travel in a flurry, on and off an aerobic step, shuttling around cones, hot-stepping through an agility ladder and racing from one sideline to the other, racquet in hand, as if lunging to make returns.

It's a small example of the kind of total-body physical work done last winter.

“The Milos explosion happened after very hard work,” Estalella says, noting that the 6-foot-5, 198-pound Canadian under his tutelage is built a little like basketball player Pau Gasol. “He has improved his mobility a lot and his athletic capacity. We're very happy and proud of his results.”

Proud yes, but satisfied, never, Blanco says. When he gets Raonic on court for a practice, he watches carefully to see where his player will go with the ball, even getting down to examine the marks left by the ball on the clay, studying Raonic's improving shot placement.

“When I first met him, he was hitting the ball good, but he didn't know how to play,” Blanco says. “Hitting it good is not enough. Now he knows how to play.”

Blanco stands off the edge of the clay court, peering through sunglasses, as Raonic plays a shot at the net and struggles to get back in position. His practice partner that day, Argentina's Juan Monaco, lobs it back, high over Raonic's head and beyond his reach. The Canadian loses the point, then swings his racquet in frustration.

“Why do you get upset at this point?” Blanco asks calmly.

“I feel like I've been beat on a lob a thousand times this year,” Raonic says, shaking it off and readying to receive the next serve.

“You have to accept,” Blanco says. “Don't get upset.”

Blanco presses Raonic to “play angry,” but that is not to be confused with losing composure. The Canadian could be combustible in his junior years, and balancing emotions has been one of their biggest triumphs together.

“The improvement of Milos in Spain has a lot of do with his growing maturity there,” says Louis Borfiga, vice-president of high performance athlete development at Tennis Canada, which orchestrated Raonic's move to Spain and is footing the training bill. “Galo has helped him a lot with footwork, with tactics and has improved his game technically.”

There were many more improvements made to Raonic's game, even to that thundering serve, the one that has always been his calling card and even impressed hard-serving American Andy Roddick during their February ATP final in Memphis. Putting it out of reach of the best returners in the game and learning the Spanish secrets of the tricky clay surface are still others Blanco would teach.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/m … le2023032/

Raonic bound for Dubai

‘It will be a new experience'

Raonic, perhaps one of the hottest names in men's tennis, may play in next February's Dubai Tennis Championships.
"I have heard tremendous things about Dubai ... I am sure it will be a completely new experience for me to come and see such good things in Dubai," Milos Raonic told Gulf News from Canada.

http://gulfnews.com/sport/tennis/raonic … i-1.810521

Milos dostapił ostatnio sporego zaszczytu. Podczas RG trenował z Nadalem, a podczas Wimbledonu odbijał z Federerem.

Cytat z twittera:

"At RG I got to practice with the King of Clay, and here at Wimby today I got a hit in with the King of Grass. Pretty awesome!!! "

Dobre! Chociaż Władca to niekoniecznie Król.

Milos Raonic readies for Wimbledon
The 20-year-old tennis player is now ranked 28, the highest ever for a Canadian man



If an ace is the trump card of tennis, then 20-year-old Milos Raonic is playing with a loaded deck. Only six months into the season, the Canadian with the 140 mph serve leads the ATP with 445 aces. (His closest competition, Ivo Karlovic, has 379.) So it's little wonder that Raonic has won 78 percent of points on his first serve -- a rate not even Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic can claim -- and saved 66 percent of break points against him.

Last year at this time, Raonic was perched at No. 295 in the world. Now, heading into Wimbledon, he's sitting pretty at No. 28, the highest ranking ever for a Canadian man. Credit a focus that's as sharp as his serves. Coming into this season, he says, "my goal was to be in the top 50 by the end of the year." That pursuit started immediately in January, at the Australian Open, where the 6'5", 198-pound Raonic, ranked No. 152 entering the event as a qualifier, made a surprise visit to the round of 16, losing in four sets to Top 10 player David Ferrer. "It was an eye-opening moment to be in the fourth round of a Grand Slam," Raonic says. "That's when I started believing."

Three weeks later, in San Jose, he rolled through the field, then defeated top seed Fernando Verdasco (No. 9 at the time) for his first ATP title. It was almost the same story in Memphis the next week: Raonic lost a close, tiebreak-filled final to top seed Andy Roddick. "He uses that serve to keep him in matches, even if he's not playing his best," says Roddick, who often overwhelms his opponents with aces. "He's pretty much guaranteed 85 percent of his holds, and that's huge. It lets you learn on the job."

Raonic developed his lethal serve while growing up in Ontario. His parents settled there in 1994 after fleeing the war-torn former Yugoslavia. "There weren't a lot of kids to train with," Milos says. "When I was alone, I spent my time serving." These days, he's concentrating on rounding out his game. "I move okay for a big guy, but I'm not fast like Federer or Nadal," he says. "Better footwork would help. So would a less predictable forehand."

Those faults became evident this spring on the clay courts; the slower, stickier surface made Raonic's cannon serve far less effective. He lost in the first round of his three most recent clay court tournaments, including a disappointing debut at the French Open. But his luck should turn at Wimbledon, where the grass is better suited to his game.

Even if players know he has an ace in the hole, they still have to go all in.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis … id=6656431

Milos ma nadzieję, że badania nie wykażą czegoś bardzo poważnego. Kanadyjczyk z optymizmem zapatruje się na powrót do zdrowia.

Raonic awaits injury outcome after Wimbledon slip-up



Raonic awaits injury outcome after Wimbledon slip-up Hard-luck Canadian Milos Raonic will find out the status of his hardcourt tennis summer after a scan of the injury he suffered as he slipped and was unable to continue in his Wimbledon second-round match.

The big-server went down on slick grass, injuring his leg after 23 minutes on court against Gilles Muller. He was taken to hospital for a scan. "It's OK, it happens," said the 20-year-old. "I just hope it's nothing too serious.

"It could be just a minor bruising that could get better in a few days. Or it could be something more serious. But it's something pretty deep in the hip."

Raonic sat disgustedly on the court after his fall awaiting the trainer, who took him to the sidelines for a taping. after a few minutes on court, the No. 25 knew he could not go on.

"I didn't think I could even lift my leg, it was a pretty sharp pain. But as time passed, with the treatment, I was able to walk a bit. After the first serve, I could tell it was too much, at least too much for me."

http://www.tennistalk.com/en/news/20110 … on_slip-up

Raonic hopes to bounce back from hip strain



Canadian Milos Raonic is already planning his return to Wimbledon in a year after being diagnosed with strained ligament after a fall on court which left him unable to complete his second-round match.

"It was an unfortunate situation in yesterday's match, but I'm looking forward to returning to Wimbledon in 2012," said the 20-year-old from Thornhill, Ont.

The mishap occurred after the 25th-ranked Raonic had broken Luxembourg's Gilles Muller for a 2-1 lead in the first set. The Canadian slid on the grass and went down awkwardly, ending his effort in pain after just 23 minutes.

Raonic went for scans at a local hospital. "I strained some ligaments around my hip and we're doing some more tests just as a precautionary measure," he said. "I'm hopeful that I will be back practising in the very near future and looking forward to Davis Cup".

Canada are to face Ecuador in an Davis Cup American Zone second-round tie July 8-10 in Guayaquil. Raonic would have played Rafael Nnadal in a third-round showcase match had he defeated Muller.

http://tennistalk.com/en/news/20110624/ … hip_strain

Czytałem, że w najgorszym przypadku wciąż możliwa jest operacja i półroczna przerwa...

Spoko, spoko. Dzisiaj medycyna jest na takim poziomie, że za miesiąc będzie kicać jak królik Duracell

A wyglądało to na zwykły upadek...

Chłopak ledwo rozpoczął karierę, a już zaczynają się problemy.

Najpierw Berankis, teraz on. Po operacji biodra nie ma co liczyć, że będzie tak jak przed kontuzją.