Milos Raonic (born December 27, 1990 in Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP world No. 3 singles ranking on November 21, 2016. His career highlights include a Grand Slam final at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships; two Grand Slam semifinals at the 2014 Wimbledon Championships and 2016 Australian Open; and three ATP World Tour Masters 1000 finals at the 2013 Canadian Open, 2014 Paris Masters, and 2016 Indian Wells Masters. Raonic first gained international acclaim by reaching the fourth round of the 2011 Australian Open as a qualifier, being referred to as "the real deal", "a new star", part of "a new generation", and "a future superstar".Coupled with his first ATP World Tour title three weeks later, his world ranking rose from No. 152 to No. 37 in one month. He was awarded the 2011 ATP Newcomer of the Year. Raonic is the first player born in the 1990s to win an ATP World Tour title, to be ranked in the top 10, and to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals. He has eight ATP World Tour titles. Raonic is the most successful Canadian singles player in history. He became the highest-ranked Canadian male ever on February 21, 2011, when he reached No. 37. His career-high No. 3 ranking is the highest by a Canadian man or woman. He is the first Canadian male in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open semifinals, the French Open quarterfinals, and the Wimbledon final. He has more ATP World Tour titles and finals appearances in the Open Era than all other Canadian men combined. Raonic was named Male Player of the Year by Tennis Canada seven times (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) and received the Lionel Conacher Award as the Canadian male athlete of the year in 2013 and 2014.
Raonic is of Serb heritage. Prompted by the political unrest in the Balkans, and seeking more professional opportunities, his family moved to Canada in 1994 when he was three, settling in Brampton, Ontario. His parents are both engineers; his father, Dušan, holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering, while his mother, Vesna, has degrees in mechanical and computer engineering, including a master's. He has two siblings, both significantly older: his sister, Jelena, has a master's degree in international trade and finance and is eleven years older, while his brother, Momir, has a degree in information technology and business and is nine years older. Raonic's uncle, Branimir Gvozdenović, is a politician in the Government of Montenegro, where he has served as Deputy Prime Minister. Raonic is fluent in Serbian and English. His first, brief introduction to tennis came at age six or seven with a week-long tennis camp at the Bramalea Tennis Club in Brampton, followed by weekly hour-long group sessions led by tennis coach Steve Gibson, who recognized his potential. He moved to nearby Thornhill, Ontario soon after, and one or two years passed before he asked his parents if he could play again. His father sought out coach Casey Curtis at the Blackmore Tennis Club in Richmond Hill, Ontario. Curtis was at first reluctant to take on Raonic, but was convinced after Raonic demonstrated his commitment by working with his father and a ball machine daily for two months. Years later, Raonic said he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad". Raonic and Curtis worked together "twice a day, almost every day, for the next nine years." Provided that he complete his courses, Raonic was allowed to reduce his hours of attendance at Thornhill Elementary School so that he could practice more, which he did both before and after school. His parents and siblings supported his tennis, taking turns driving him to practice and tournaments, but did not push him to it or interfere with coaching. Rather, they emphasized school throughout, insisting that he maintain academic excellence as a prerequisite to playing tennis. He attended Thornhill Secondary School, and accelerated his course load—achieving an 82 percent average—so that he could graduate a year early. Late in 2007, at the age of 16, Raonic moved to Montréal as one of the first group of players at Tennis Canada's new National Tennis Centre, thus marking the end of his formal relationship with Curtis, and was a member until 2010.
The table below chronicles Raonic's head-to-head record against all players who have a career-high singles ranking of 10 or better. Active players are highlighted in bold.
Player
Record
W%
Hard
Clay
Grass
Last Match
Number 1 ranked players
Lleyton Hewitt (AUS)
1–1
50%
1–1
0–0
0–0
Won 7–6(7–1), 7–6(7–3) at 2014 Washington Open 3R
Andy Murray (GBR)
3–9
25%
2–5
1–2
0–2
Lost 7–5, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(9–11) at 2016 ATP Finals SF
Rafael Nadal (ESP)
2–7
22%
2–6
0–1
0–0
Lost 4–6, 6–7(7–9), 4–6 at 2017 Australian Open QF
Roger Federer (SUI)
3–11
21%
2–6
0–1
1–4
Lost 4–6, 6–7(3–7) at 2018 Stuttgart Open F
Andy Roddick (USA)
0–1
0%
0–1
0–0
0–0
Lost 6–7(7–9), 7–6(13–11), 5–7 at 2011 Memphis Open F
Novak Djokovic (SRB)
0–9
0%
0–5
0–4
0–0
Lost 5–7, 6–4, 3–6 at 2018 Cincinnati Masters QF
Number 2 ranked players
Tommy Haas (GER)
3–0
100%
1–0
1–0
1–0
Won 6–4, 6–3 at 2017 Italian Open 2R
Number 3 ranked players
David Nalbandian (ARG)
1–0
100%
0–0
1–0
0–0
Won 6–4, 6–4 at 2012 Madrid Open 1R
Nikolay Davydenko (RUS)
1–0
100%
0–0
1–0
0–0
Won 7–5, 7–6(7–5) at 2013 Madrid Open 1R
Alexander Zverev Jr. (GER)
1–1
50%
0–0
0–1
1–0
Won 4–6, 7–5, 4–6, 7–5, 6–1 at 2017 Wimbledon 4R
Stan Wawrinka (SUI)
3–4
43%
3–3
0–1
0–0
Won 6–7(4–7), 7–6(8–6), 7–6(13–11), 7–6(7–5) at 2019 Australian Open 2R
Juan Martín del Potro (ARG)
2–3
40%
2–3
0–0
0–0
Lost 7–5, 6–7(1–7), 6–7(3–7) at 2018 Miami Open QF
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
2–3
40%
1–3
1–0
0–0
Won 7–5, 3–6, 6–3 at 2018 Madrid Open 2R
Marin Čilić (CRO)
1–2
33%
1–1
0–1
0–0
Lost 6–7(3–7), 3–6 at 2017 Istanbul Open F
David Ferrer (ESP)
0–4
0%
0–2
0–2
0–0
Lost 6–7(2–7), 6–7(5–7) at 2012 Barcelona Open SF
Number 4 ranked players
James Blake (USA)
2–0
100%
2–0
0–0
0–0
Won 6–3, 6–0, 7–6(7–3) at 2012 US Open 3R
Dominic Thiem (AUT)
2–0
100%
2–0
0–0
0–0
Won 7–6(7–5), 6–3 at 2016 ATP Finals RR
Tomáš Berdych (CZE)
6–3
67%
4–1
1–2
1–0
Won 7–6(7–2), 7–6(7–1) at 2018 Stuttgart Open QF
Kei Nishikori (JPN)
2–5
29%
1–4
0–1
1–0
Lost 6–3, 3–6, 4–6, 6–2, 4–6 at 2015 Davis Cup 1R
Number 5 ranked players
Tommy Robredo (ESP)
6–0
100%
3–0
3–0
0–0
Won 7–6(8–6), 7–6(7–5), 7–5 at 2016 Australian Open 2R
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)
4–2
67%
2–2
2–0
0–0
Won 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–5), 7–6(7–5) at 2018 Paris Masters 1R