As Wimbledon swiftly approaches, an improved Milos Raonic believes he has the potential to claim grass-court glory following his latest triumph at the Aegon Championships.
In the quarter-finals at The Queen’s Club, the third seed fired an impressive 19 aces and 34 winners to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 6-4, in just 60 minutes. The latest win comes amid the blossoming of his collaboration with newly appointment coach John McEnroe. Following his latest win in London, an increasingly confident Raonic believes that he is on the verge of reaching the peak of his form.
”I feel I’m pretty close to being there,” Raonic responded when asked by ubitennis if he was near his best.
“I feel like I’m moving well. I feel like I’m taking care of things that I want to take care of.”
The timing of Raonic’s surge in form comes as he tries to reach the third grand slam semifinal of his career at the Wimbledon championships. SW19 brings back happy memories for the Canadian, who reached his first major semifinal at the 2014 event. The favourites for the Wimbledon title might be Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, but Raonic himself is quietly confident that he has the potential to become the first Canadian champion in the tournament’s history.
“If I’m playing well, I can definitely give myself an opportunity to do so,” Raonic replied when asked if he was a contender for the Wimbledon title.
Elaborating of his reasoning, the world No.9 declared that he is ‘significantly’ better than when he was in 2014, where he achieved his breakthrough run at the grass-court major.
Raonic’s confidence on the grass comes only eight years after the first time he stepped onto a grass-court. At the age of 17, he made his Wimbledon debut in the boys competition where he lost in the second round to Brazil’s Henrique Cunha. Recounting his grass-court debut, Raonic openly admitted that it wasn’t a happy experience.
“It wasn’t that great.” He bluntly said.
“It wasn’t the best thing at the start of my junior career because I didn’t have the right understanding of it. I wasn’t effective with my serve.”
Whilst the encounter wasn’t his best experience, Raonic never let it deter him from future events on the grass. The ability to learn from his mistakes is perhaps why he has managed to get so far in his career.
The next step in Raonic’s ongoing love affair with the grass will be against Bernard Tomic in Saturday’s semifinal. Tomic booked his place with a 7-6(5), 4-6, 6-2, win over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller. Guided by McEnroe, Raonic will be hoping to achieve another milestone. A semi-final victory will lead him to his first ever ATP final on the grass, not bad for somebody who never saw a grass-court until the age of 17.
