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AEGON CHAMPIONSHIP

June 16, 2016

Milos Raonic

London, England

M. RAONIC/J. Vesely

7-5, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Not an easy match?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, he was playing well. He's definitely played a lot more matches on grass this week than I have. He was serving well and it was hard to read. I believe he served a very high percentage throughout the match.

But overall I have to be happy with how I did. I found my way forward. I felt like when I was able to get into the points, when I was being aggressive, I was dictating sort of from a neutral position and then able to transition and come forward and be efficient.

Q. You said before the tournament that grass is often about who can manage it the best and play the least badly. How do you think you're managing now?
MILOS RAONIC: I'm managing well, doing a lot of things well, and playing quite well on it. Obviously it will never be as easy to move on as hard courts and these kind of things. I think it's about minimizing that gap of how much movement you do lose when it comes to grass.

I'm coming in a lot. I feel like I'm volleying well, putting the volleys in the right place, covering the right angles. It's all coming together.

Q. Can you tell us what John's been telling you?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. Most of the time it is about positioning on the volleys, where to be, especially when you see a guy maybe sort of off-balance or which angles to cover. A lot of that has been about that side technically.

We worked a little bit on the serve, changing a little bit more of the spins, keeping it a little bit more unpredictable, not just locations.

We have also worked a lot on being quick to realize opportunities to move forward or be aggressive earlier in points, which sometimes I would give up.

Q. Have you noticed any improvements?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I think I'm playing well. We had a great week of practice on grass. I'm playing well. Things are coming together nicely. I hope I continue to improve from match to match.

Q. How would you compare your performance on grass this year compared to last year?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, I think it's very hard to compare because last year I was nursing sort of coming back from two foot surgeries and I wasn't in the shape I am this year.

So it's obviously much better this year, but you can't compare apples and oranges.

Q. How do you find working with John?
MILOS RAONIC: It's fun. It's really nice. He's probably the most energetic 57-year-old I know. (Laughter.)

Q. Has he smiled yet?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, he smiles. We laugh. We also share a lot in common off court. He loves art, as well, and he has a lot more experience in it than I do.

We discuss that quite a bit. It's been a pleasure working with him. He's definitely enticed me on and off the court.

Q. You're very calm and measured on the court. Has he suggested you be more expressive?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't think it's more expressive. I think it's more showing my presence, because sometimes I can sort of be too calm. Just sometimes to let the guy know who is on the other side of the net that I'm there, I'm ready to play, sort of that can wear on a guy throughout a long match if it's close.

Q. He was wearing a Rage Against the Machine T-shirt today. Is that another interest you share?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't know if I share as much of an interest with rock-and-roll music. I like stuff from a few generations ago, as well. I'd rather go to a Billy Joel concert, as well. I'm sure he's been to many of those and he enjoys them as well.

Q. Would you consider working with John beyond Wimbledon?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. You know, it has to be sort of structured in the way where it can be beneficial and also not too much. When I brought John on and asked him if he would like to be a part of this project, there was never an intention of I want to just be better on grass. That was far from it. It was I wanted to take this time to improve considerably and it's the same things that I can incorporate and use on grass now, but I can incorporate and keep using it on hard courts, as well. I think it will pay off well for me.

Q. Could you envisage John having the time to take it on beyond Wimbledon?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't know. We haven't really discussed that. I think if that was ever to come about, it would have to be quite a limited amount of weeks. He has a lot of commitments that he does. You know, you still see him around tournaments a lot, but the question is how much time does he have when he's commentating and so forth. He's got a pretty full plate, that's for sure.

Q. But if you could continue, you'd allow that?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I think I could definitely see that if it's structured in the right way, meaning which weeks and which time we could put together. I think that would probably be the most important part.

I think he can help me a lot during tournaments, but I think sort of with how much energy he has and this kind of stuff, he could be the most beneficial for me leading up to tournaments and these kind of things and then sort of helping me throughout tournaments, whether that be from close or from afar like we sort of discussed for upcoming at Wimbledon.

Q. Do you think John can help you get to major finals?
MILOS RAONIC: I believe so. I believe everybody on my team can help me do that. If I didn't believe that for a second, those people wouldn't be on my team.

I don't want to be mean, but we all have goals that are far beyond where I am right now.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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