Milos Raonic has been pleasantly surprised by the positivity of the latest addition to his coaching team.
Seven-time grand slam winner John McEnroe has started working with the highly-rated Canadian this summer and was a happy onlooker as his charge won his first-round match at Wimbledon on Monday.
Raonic - the fourth favourite behind only Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer - saw off Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7/4) 6-2 6-4 on Court Two and was duly asked about his work with McEnroe.
The American was an outspoken player and is not short of a word as a pundit, but Raonic says he has been pleased with how positive the 57-year-old has been.
"John is one of the more positive people, especially a contrast to the way he might have been on court," he said.
"He's very persistent in enforcing the positive things you do well. I think he shows that. It's good to have him here and that he has made the time possible."
Raonic has made two grand slam semi-finals in his career - including one at Wimbledon in 2014 - and says he is constantly changing his game and approach in order to try and make the next step.
"I have tried many different things," he said.
"I have tried just different ways of organising practice scheduling and all these kind of things. Always I'm trying because you see some guys spend a lot of time on court - some guys spend shockingly little amounts of time on court but it works for them.
"So I'm constantly trying to figure out what's the balance of how much work I can put in and then also understanding the importance of recovery."
Raonic will meet Andreas Seppi in the second round.
Source: PA
