SAN JOSE, CALIF. — During his second-round win over James Blake at the SAP Open — a 6-2, 7-6(4), one-hour, 10-minute decision that sent him into the second ATP quarterfinal of his young career — Montenegrin-turned-Canadian Milos Raonic had the temerity to unleash a 123 mph second-serve ace.
“Kids these days,” sighed the 31-year-old Blake. “It’s like watching one of those six- or seven-year-olds on the ski slopes who have no fear and just keep going down and have no idea they’re going near a tree. You wish you could be that fearless.”
Raonic — at age 20 the second youngest player in the top 100 after leaping from No. 152 at the end of last year to No. 84 — has made his 6-foot-5 presence known in a hurry, knocking off Michael Llodra and Mikhail Youzhny en route to the Round of 16 at the Australian Open. He possesses a special brand of confidence, an innate sense of self-belief. With a supersonic serve that regularly flirts with the 150 mph range, he’s not afraid to step up and crack it against the tour’s more established stars. He knows he’s going to be tough to break. He knows he’s going to frustrate opponents. But where did that swagger come from. What’s his secret?
“There’s no secret to it,” said Raonic, who totaled 13 aces against Blake. “You can see what I’m doing on the court. I’m playing well. I’m playing confident. I’m doing the things I need to do — serving well and putting pressure on my return games. Everything’s coming together. I’m utilizing my opportunities. But this wasn’t just a thing that clicked. It was a lot of work.”
“It’s confidence. But it’s not just for matches; it’s from everything, from the work,” he continued. “I believe a lot in myself. I believe a lot in the work I’ve done. I believe a lot in the team I have around me [which includes coach and former ATP pro Galo Blanco of Spain]. I know that I’m in a productive environment for myself and for my development; achieving the goals I want to achieve. I don’t feel there’s really much that can get in the way of this. Anything that can, like injuries, I’m going to put in the hours and the work I need to do to prevent it.”
Big servers are a dime a dozen on the ATP Tour these days, but Raonic’s serve seems to have a little something extra.
“It’s up there. The speed is up there with just about anyone’s,” said Blake, who looked a bit rusty in only his second match of 2011. “He’ll start spotting it a little better, I’m sure, as he gets a little older. But it’s really dangerous. He can attack with second serves. He probably aced me two or three times on second serves. I’d put it up there with a lot of the big guys. It’s a little different than Karlovic or Isner. Those guys still come down at a different angle. But when he’s hitting it well, I’d put it similar to Joachim Johansson‘s. It takes the racket out of your hand. It doesn’t let you get into any rhythm. It doesn’t give you any sort of confidence to get two, three, four in a row, because he can reel off plenty in a row to demoralize you.”
It’s the kind of serve that has earned the Ontarion a slew of nicknames, including “The Maple Leaf Missile,” “Mr. Mr.” (for his initials, MR), “The Big Leaf,” “Bombardier Milos” and even “Avatar.”
“Everything so far has to do with something like war, like a missile,” laughed Raonic, who will next face fellow 20-year-old Richard Berankis, who advanced via a 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 win over Donald Young. “I think ‘Maple Leaf Milos’ is nice, but let’s just stick with ‘Milos’ until I make up my mind.”
