Milos Raonic continued his serene, under-the-radar progress into the Australian Open quarter-finals on Monday, with just his third Top 5 victory at a Grand Slam championship. His 6-1, 6-1, 7-6(4) victory over World No. 4 Alexander Zverev of Germany was another stepping stone on his journey back to top form.
Wins over Nick Kyrgios, 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka and Pierre-Hugues Herbert at Melbourne Park in the past week, have only strengthened his belief that he’s moving in the right direction once more.
“It's not fun, necessarily, before the tournament starts to look at it and say, ‘Hey, you play Nick, to most likely play Stan in the first two rounds.’ You're sort of hoping for a bit more time to really work your way into things. But then on the other end of it, I dealt with those challenges really well. Right now, I'm here playing some extremely good tennis, I believe. Hopefully I can make that count.”
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In full flow on serve, having won 84 per cent of his first-service points (233/276) and struck a tournament-leading 107 aces through his first four matches, the Canadian is turning a corner on injuries to his right calf, right knee and right elbow that have hindered his performances and time on the court in recent years.
“I had a really good off-season,” said Raonic. “I put in some of the best hours in a long period of time, maybe, if ever. I'm not the kind of guy that needs a lot of matches. For me, it's about being sharp, moving well, and being efficient with my serve and this kind of thing.
“If I can get those kind of things, my serve always buys me time in matches and in tournaments to sort of figure things out. It can keep me alive for a while. As long as I have the freedom to put in the work and with no physical hindrances, I think I can always give myself a chance.”
With a 3-10 record against Top 5 opponents at major championships, Raonic’s victory over Zverev on Monday afternoon added to two former wins over then No. 4-ranked Wawrinka in the 2016 Australian Open fourth round and against No. 3-ranked Roger Federer in 2016 Wimbledon semi-finals. The 28-year-old will now prepare to face French No. 28 seed Lucas Pouille for a shot at reaching the Australian Open semi-finals for the second time (also 2016, l. to Andy Murray).
When asked if he’s playing his best tennis since 2016, when he reached the Wimbledon final, the World No. 17 said, “I think I'm a better player than I was back then. I think back then I just found some situations a little bit easier to deal with, because I had three or two good years from 2014 to 2015 before that. Instinct takes over when you have played that many matches consecutively.
“Now you always have to think about things a bit more because you're always trying to search for that rhythm, that sort of what should you do, whereas in those situations I don't think I was really asking myself. I was trusting a lot more.
“I think I'm getting better at the net, because since 2016 I have made an effort every single time I have been healthy, and I could move well and be efficient, to come forward. In the first five years of my career I probably only hit a couple thousand volleys. I'm sure over the past three years I've probably hit tens of thousands of volleys. I think, in that scenario, things are bound to get better.
Looking ahead to his goals for the year, Raonic admitted, “I think I have to re-establish my ranking and consistency throughout a year… I know when I do my things right, I can give myself a chance, and I don't necessarily worry too much about what other people are going about, and what other players are doing. I just sort of try to be on top of my own things and try to deal with them as best as I can.
“If you can't trust [your body], it's going to be a miserable time. You give it what you can, and hopefully it can get you through.”.readfullarticle
