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WIMBLEDON

July 10, 2016

Milos Raonic

London, England

A. MURRAY/M. Raonic
6‑4, 7‑6, 7‑6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's hard to ask this question, but obviously when you lose, any regrets?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I wouldn't say there's any as far as this moment.

Q. Tactically, the way the match went and stuff...
MILOS RAONIC: I think I did the best I could. I tried to put the things together. I tried coming forward, putting pressure on him. He was playing much better than me off the baseline. He was more effective there.
Probably a little too passive to start the match on his service games. But then I tried to turn that around, give myself two looks, but didn't make the most of it.
I tried to put together what I could, fought. It just didn't work out.

Q. Was it overwhelming to play your first Grand Slam final?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I don't really think so. I think it was more, you know, you know you're not going to play your best tennis by any means. You sort of have to dig it out. That's pretty much the thing you're fighting against the most, trying to find the level that's good enough.
I was keeping up with him. Bu then when it counted, I wasn't able to get on top.

Q. I imagine it will be record television viewers in Canada watching your match. What would you say to the people who were cheering you on and who will be disappointed in the outcome today?
MILOS RAONIC: A big thank you. It's not just the support here, it's the support through numerous weeks wherever I go to play tennis.
The appreciation for tennis in Canada has considerably grown, just for Canadians in general all over the world. There's always a big contingency, a big showing up. It's a great honor to have that kind of support.
You know, what happened today happened. The only thing I could ever regret is if I didn't do everything I can to make myself return to this position again.

Q. Did nerves come into play at all or was it just a better player on the other side of the net?
MILOS RAONIC: No, nerves are part of it, but my nerves are no different than his.

Q. What do you take from these two weeks here, good, bad, indifferent? What do you think you need to work on to get to the next level?
MILOS RAONIC: I'm going to work on everything. I'm not going to leave any stone unturned. I'm going to try to get myself back in this position, try to be better in this position.
I'm going to try to get fitter, stronger. I'm going to try to improve my return game, improve my serve. I can improve there. Improve my efficiency coming forward. There's not one thing that I'm not going to try to improve.
Obviously now we have to focus on what the most important thing is to put as much attention as I can because I can't focus on everything the whole time. We'll discuss that as a team and we'll try to take it from there.

Q. What do you take out of these two weeks?
MILOS RAONIC: Phenomenal. I stepped up in a semifinal that twice I struggled in in the past. I stepped up. I did a great thing there. Came back from two sets to love down, which is a first time for me.
I showed guts. I showed vigor. I got to carry that through to the next events.

Q. Anything you particularly learned from this experience you can use next time you are playing in the final of a Grand Slam?
MILOS RAONIC: I haven't learned it yet, but I'm going to try to make sure I learn everything I can.

Q. You played Roger and Andy. Is there a sense from you that tennis is moving on now, that the next generation is stepping up? Do you feel you're kind of a figure that can break that traditional four, lead the charge?
MILOS RAONIC: There are guys that are always sort of trying to push those barriers down that these guys try to set up. Everybody wants to win. The guy across the net from you wants to take what you're trying to get.
It's not a group thing. It's an individual thing, one‑on‑one. Everybody is trying to improve, whether they be the really young guys around 19, 20, 21 that are doing really well now. Then you have also the guys that are 24, 25, 26, all the way up to 28, that are trying to get their name there.
Yeah, you can group them, you can put people in groups, but nobody's really helping each other. It's a very individual sport. Everybody's doing it on their own.

Q. What is your plan now?
MILOS RAONIC: I got to prepare for the Rogers Cup in Toronto.

Q. What aspect of his game was the most troublesome for you today?
MILOS RAONIC: I thought that he was doing a very good thing of being aggressive when he had the chance. Sometimes Andy will let you in the match, you know, sort of because he can do so many different things.
Every single time he had forehands in the middle of the court, he was really trying to hit them, not giving me two looks at a point. I think that's what he did really well.

Q. He was so extraordinary on returning and retrieving. What do you think he was doing that was blunting your strengths?
MILOS RAONIC: He moves incredibly well. He returns well. Those are his two biggest strengths. He's been playing well. Those things are going to be what I got to face off against.
I took care of my serve as much as I could. I needed to find a way to be more efficient maybe on returning.
But every single time you play him, you know he's going to get more returns back than anybody else, alongside with Novak. That's what these two guys, especially, do. You try to find a way around that.

Q. Every kid dreams of being in a Wimbledon final. Was there ever a pinch‑me moment that you were actually playing in the Wimbledon final?
MILOS RAONIC: Not really. I don't think the moment ever really caught on. I think I just maybe in a mundane way sort of looked at it as just another match. This match felt like a much greater opportunity than anything, but it never felt that much different than anything.

Q. Obviously you're disappointed with today's result, but what do you think this means for Andy? What do you think is next for him?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, I think it's phenomenal for him to back up his win from three years ago. He's been in many finals since then that he wasn't able to make the most of.
For him, it's a big step forward. What's next for him is up to him. He's got to go for it. There's many other guys that are going to be trying to go for it, as well. I know I will.
It's hard to really know what he's going to make of this.

Q. Where does your coaching relationship with John McEnroe go from here moving forward? Have you spoken with your parents after the match?
MILOS RAONIC: I haven't spoken with anybody since the match. I came here to speak with you guys as therapy (smiling).

Q. As far as McEnroe?
MILOS RAONIC: We haven't spoke about anything, but I'm sure we're going to have that discussion over the next 24 hours.

Q. Would you like to keep him on?
MILOS RAONIC: I think we'll probably try to find an extent that it can work, he can help me, and try to make the most of it.

Q. You said Friday night the biggest challenge for you in this was you didn't want to get sucked into Andy's game. You felt that happened the last time you met. How did that play into today? Do you feel like you accomplished not doing that?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I think I did a better job than I did last time. I think he did a better job from the start of the match, like, making me play a lot, which he didn't do as well the last time we played. But at the same time I think I sort of fended off.
I remember that match. I was up 3‑Love in the second. If you look at it from there on out, I lost 6‑1, 6‑3.
It was very different terms than it was today.

Q. Is there a difference playing Andy in a Grand Slam semifinal and playing him in a Grand Slam final?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't think so. I think, other than the fact that when things aren't going your way, you have a bit more time to figure it out. Everybody's fighting.
There's a difference when you play a guy early in the tournament, when they haven't really maybe found their game or their feel on those courts yet. By the time you get to the final, everybody's playing their best tennis.

Q. How does Andy's performance compare to anyone else you've played?
MILOS RAONIC: I think he's been playing really well. I think from what I saw of his matches, he had a pretty good opportunity to maybe win this tournament without losing a set. He was up two sets to love against Jo. Jo made a strong fight back. Then Andy had to turn it around in a very strong way in the fifth set.
He's been playing great. Guys haven't really been able to give him a true big scare. You know, he definitely deserved and earned to win this tournament.

Q. Both tiebreaks got away from you quite quickly. Anything you could have done to prevent that?
MILOS RAONIC: I think he played really well that second tiebreak. But the first tiebreak, obviously I missed that ball, the short ball, on the first one. Wasn't even close. Missed into the middle of the net. Then I had an overhead that I didn't make the most of on my serve. I'll sort of look back at that with not too much joy.

Q. You had had a big game against Roger Federer in the semifinal, then you came back from two sets down in the previous match as well. How much did that take out of you emotionally? Did you have enough physically and emotionally coming into the final?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I did. Obviously it's a little harder to get it out of yourself. But you're in the final. After you finish this match today, you can rest as many days as you want, as many days as you see fit.
You disregard any kind of fatigue or strain you've gone through the last few matches or last couple days. You put that aside. Adrenaline takes over and you try to make the most of it. You disregard that as much as you can.

Q. It seems that you're trying to find solutions out there. The first real opportunity you had was at 2‑2 in the third set, 15‑40. How did you feel at that moment? If you had broken, it could have been different.
MILOS RAONIC: Obviously it does come down a lot of the time to a few important points. That was probably the most clear look I had. I had a sense that, you know, if I could have gotten ahead there, maybe I could have turned it around a bit.
Obviously Andy was going to do everything he could to not let me do that. That was my biggest, let's say, opener.

Q. You said earlier you almost thought of it as a mundane match. You look at Andy playing in front of his home crowd. In a strange way, is it almost like it meant more to him?
MILOS RAONIC: Maybe through the media side. Trust me, nobody wanted to win that match more than me. Maybe equal.

Q. It was obviously a home crowd. Even the prime minister was there cheering him on. How difficult is it to play at Wimbledon when literally nearly everyone in the crowd is willing him on? Do you envy him as one of the few players that's able to play with that support here?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I don't think it's really that difficult. I'm sure they support Roger equally as they do to Andy. There's these things you face. These are guys that have put themselves in this situation many times.
Especially for Andy being a home crowd, they want him to win. Everyone wants Roger to win, as well, one player more than anybody around the world. You try to disregard that.
Obviously he tries to make the most of it in his benefit and he tried to use that as much as he can. My job there is to focus on myself, focus on Andy. Everything outside of the lines, try to make it as unnoticeable to myself as possible.

Q. Andy had impressive passing shots at critical moments. Do you think that was one of his strengths or do you think it was pressure on you when you came to the net?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I saved myself a lot of the time at the net, as well. It was probably the thing I would take the most positive from. I don't know what the numbers are. I haven't had a chance to look at anything. But I think I was pretty good at coming in.
Yeah, he's going to pass you. He moves well. He gets himself in good position. He has good hands. He has good touch. He's going to pass you.
I tried to put myself up there and sort of tried to dare him to do it.

Q. He moves around a lot when you're serving. Were you trying to find him with the body serve? He seemed to avoid it pretty well. Can you comment on his service return in general. Pretty strong.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, he is one of the two best returners in the game. I don't know if he was moving anywhere other than forward. He's one of those guys that takes a big step going in to return. I don't know if he was moving anywhere else. I didn't notice anything outside of that.
Using the body serve or using angle serves, it's about keeping the guy honest. The body serve, I can hit it many different ways. I can hit it 120, sometimes I can hit it 140. It's about giving him more things to have to process and think about rather than less, rather than just two options: a T serve and a wide serve.
I definitely did incorporate it.

Q. Denis won the junior boys title. How well do you know him? Your thoughts on his performance?
MILOS RAONIC: I know him a little bit. I know him. I know his coach that he works with, Adriano, as well. We practiced two years ago, I believe, quite a bit leading up to Rogers Cup because he's one of the few top kids that's actually based in Toronto that's not in the national program in Montréal.
I've hit with him a few times. It's good to see him doing well. He had a big comeback, I believe, yesterday in his semifinal to turn around the top seed serving for the match. He's had a phenomenal few weeks. He won the upcoming tournament.
He's doing really well. He's coming into his own. It's not just here. He's won a few futures this year as well. I've been following him and he's constantly improving.

Q. In your career, will, determination and intent, step‑by‑step progress is your brand, your approach. Reaching the final is an incredible accomplishment. What is your self‑talk to yourself about your ability to win a slam? What do you say to yourself and take away from this fortnight?
MILOS RAONIC: I believe I definitely have that ability within myself. There's not a shadow of a doubt from myself. The question is, am I going to make the most of it when those opportunities arise.
Nobody's going to give me those opportunities. I'm going to work extensively and really hard to give myself those opportunities.
There's other guys that want it. I'm going to try to find every solution to every issue I may have, things I need to improve, things I need to get better on on a day‑to‑day basis to give myself that opportunity.
That's what keeps me the most motivated. I think when that sort of disappears, that constant day‑to‑day progress, I think the beauty of tennis will change to me.

Q. How many Wimbledons do you predict Andy can win?
MILOS RAONIC: Depends how many times he gives himself that opportunity. You know, a lot of it depends on Andy. But there's a lot of things that depend on a lot of other guys, too.
I'm sure he'll have opportunities again. Will he make the most of those opportunities? Only time will tell.

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