It is a partnership that nobody had predicted, Milos Raonic will work with John McEnroe during this year’s Wimbledon championships.
The recruitment of the outspoken American is the latest addition to Raonic’s team. The world No.9 currently works with his full-time coach Riccardo Piatti and earlier this year announced that Carlos Moya has been added as a consultant. Moya, who won the 1998 French Open, has agreed to work with Raonic for 15 weeks this season.
The addition of McEnroe is a bid to help Raonic further develop his game on the grass. The 57-year-old has won the prestigious Wimbledon title three times during his career in the 1980s. The announcement of the upcoming partnership broke in the most unorthodox way.
This is how McEnroe announced he would coach Raonic in Wimbledon. pic.twitter.com/q5WvD5B5dD
— Stroppa Del (@stroppadel) 27 May 2016
According to sources at Yahoo Sports, the announcement came earlier that Raonic wanted. He originally hoped to keep the agreement silent until the end of the French Open in order to keep his focus. McEnroe on the other hand had other ideas.
“When it comes to Wimbledon I’ll be taking on and I’m gonna help coach this guy named Milos,” McEnroe said in his video.
Speaking about his new task, McEnroe told Eurosport that he ranks Raonic as one as the favourites for the Wimbledon title. In 2014 the Canadian reached his first major semifinal at SW19.
“Milos Raonic can win majors. He’s one of five or six guys that can win Wimbledon. I’m excited to be part of his team.” McEnroe told Eurosport.
The coaching experience of McEnroe is certainly limited compared to other rivals such as Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker. The American spent 14 months as the captain of the American Davis Cup team before resigning in 2000. During his time as Captain, McEnroe guided his country to wins against Zimbabwe and the Czech Republic before suffering a 5-0 loss to Spain. He also worked with Becker in what was a very brief collaboration.
McEnroe has extensively talked about his desire to work with a top player. In recent years he has publicly stated that he would like to help Andy Murray and Nick Kyrgios, but no collaboration ever happened.
There is no formal comment from Raonic or his camp, however, sources told Eh Game that it is ‘a done deal’.
The Wimbledon championships might be four weeks away, but the birth of the McEnroe-Raonic era has already left some salivating with excitement and intrigue. The return of McEnroe to the side of the court is likely to create some sort of drama, whatever that may be.
