Name: Milos Raonic
Birthday: December 27, 1990
Birthplace: Podgorica, Montenegro
Sport: Tennis
Residence: Thornhill, Ontario, Canada
Nickname: Avatar
Height: 6' 5" tall
Milos Raonic is the hottest rising star in the tennis world…and he’s Canadian!?! Canada has produced very few tennis stars so this is a very exciting time for the Great White North.
Stung in Serbia
Milos Raonic was born in the former Yugoslavia just before Serbia became an independent country. Milos moved to Canada with his family because of the war that continued in between the surrounding nations. Milos doesn’t remember anything about his homeland in Montenegro except for the time when he was stung by a bee on the finger when he was just 4 years old.
Ferocious First Serve
Sampras' Style
Milos began playing tennis when he was nine years old in Thornhill, Ontario. He has a monster serve thanks to all those early morning (6:30 a.m.) workouts every day. His first serve can reach speeds up to 155 miles per hour! Milos says the biggest reason why his game has improved is because he has been working on his attitude. Instead of getting angry, he tries to find ways to focus and win.
First Tennis Title
Milos won his first ATP tour title, beating the #9 ranked player in the world, Fernando Verdasco, at the SAP Open in San Jose. It was the first time a Canadian tennis player won an ATP title since 1995. His victory brought a lot of attention to tennis in the Canadian media, so Milos hopes that his victories will help make the sport grow. Milos was oh so close to reaching his first Grand Slam Finals recently when he made it all the way to the Semis at Wimbledon. He lost to Roger Federer but saw his ranking climb to No.6 six in the world!
Milos holds his trophy from the ATP Thailand Open tennis tournament in Bangkok 2013
Fun Facts
- Plays with a two-handed backhand
- Speaks Serbian and English
- Moved from Podgorica, Montenegro, to Canada at age 3
- Parents are Dusan and Vesna (both engineers); he also has a sister, Jelena, and brother, Momir
- Started playing tennis at age 8
- His dad "used a ball machine at 6:30 a.m. or 9:00 p.m. because court fees were a lot cheaper at this time"
- Favorite surface is hard court
- Favorite shots are serve and overhead
- Hobbies include watching movies and talking to family on Skype
- Supports Real Madrid (soccer) and Toronto Raptors (basketball)
- Idol growing up was Pete Sampras: "I video-taped all his televised matches"
- Career goal is to be a "consistent Top 50 player with Top 10 aspirations"
- Made Davis Cup debut for Canada versus Colombia in March 2010
- Coach is former ATP pro Frederic Niemeyer (since December 2009)
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