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WIMBLEDON

June 30, 2016

Milos Raonic

London, England

M. RAONIC/A. Seppi
7‑6, 6‑4, 6‑3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You had a huge smile on your face after the match was over. Was that a case of getting a quick match over early?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I was having fun. I played well. I did things well. So I'm happy to be moving on, in a good position.

Q. He's an experienced guy, knows how to play on grass. Were you a little bit more worried than somebody that doesn't have that kind of experience?
MILOS RAONIC: I knew somewhat what to expect. I thought he played quite well. He never let me get a rhythm, even though I was trying not to let him get a rhythm.
He was hitting the ball pretty hard. The ball was staying pretty low. It was hard to really get some looks to be too aggressive with. I had to sort of always be looking to change the shots up and bring him out of his repertoire.

Q. You played Jack Sock eight times, winning seven of the matches. How would you compare the contrasts between the styles of your game and the challenge of the next match?
MILOS RAONIC: I have to serve well. We've played a lot of times. I've been able to find the solutions most of the time. I got to take care of the serve. I got to find my way forward, find a way to be the aggressor.

Q. What has been the key to your success so often against him?
MILOS RAONIC: I think it's the fact that I've always found a way to be the one dictating, controlling. It's always eventually paid off throughout the difficult matches for me.

Q. What did you do yesterday with all the rain? Did you get a chance to speak with John McEnroe?
MILOS RAONIC: Not yesterday. We spoke the day before about my first match. Then he came out to practice today. We spoke today for this match.
I went home. I slept a little bit. Came back. Saw I got canceled.

Q. You hit some significant second serves. That's something you had gotten away from a little bit. Is that one of the things that's been discussed in terms of being more aggressive?
MILOS RAONIC: It is. But it's also something that came more from my end of what I felt I needed to do. I don't know where I was averaging today second serves. It's about being around 110, you know, not letting the guy get a rhythm.
I can do that without really giving away any more free points than I would with doubles. So it's something that is only beneficial to me.

Q. You hit one 136, really going for it.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. When you get ahead in the game, you just try to sort of demotivate the other guy and use it as a mental aspect as well.

Q. A couple reports around saying you and John aren't doing anything together anymore. News to you?
MILOS RAONIC: I was just told about it. It's inaccurate. He was there with me this morning. Obviously he's trying to be there as much as he can. It depends what kind of commentating schedule he gets that day.
For the first round, it worked out. Today it didn't because I believe he was calling the first two matches on Centre Court.

Q. Do you feel you have firmly embarked on sort of a crucial next stage in your career, the meaty part of your career?
MILOS RAONIC: I'm trying to be there. I'm trying to make it count. I'm working very hard. I'm always looking to improve. I'm trying to find those solutions so I can achieve what I want to.

Q. You have the power first serve. How important is it to mix up the speed on the first serve like a baseball pitcher throwing a change‑up pitch?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't think it's so much the speed. I think it's more the kind of rotations. If you hit flat and hit your spot, even if it's hard, if the guy guesses right, gets his racquet behind it, he can make it. Whereas if you hit it maybe not as hard because it's hard, but with a lot of slice, then they have to go through it because it's harder to control with just the block. You have to sort of lean into it more. So you're trying to always give the guy different looks, even though if he guesses right, it's not that easy for them.

Q. Is it true that you had approached Richard Krajicek to take on the John McEnroe role? Is that true? If so, what was the timeline there?
MILOS RAONIC: I approached Richard at the end of last year as well. Since we did spend some time together in December, I thought that he could possibly help me. I guess the terms just didn't work out.
I felt like we spoke about it as a team, then we reached out to John. John was ready to take that on. It's been positive.

Q. What is the grass like here compared to Queen's Club? A seamless transition or changes you have to make?
MILOS RAONIC: It's a little bit softer. Each day it's getting a little bit harder and harder, the court. The first bounce is a little bit lower. But the serve starts going up and up the more the courts get used up and run around on.

Q. You seemed to come in at crucial times and it worked for you.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I thought he was doing a good job of hitting hard and deep. I would have liked to have created more chances to come forward. When I did, it did pay off. I was pretty efficient there, which is nice.

Q. You seemed very concerned about going on with the match after that brief rain interruption. Can you talk about that, how worried you were.
MILOS RAONIC: It's not worried. You're in a tiebreak and you don't want to play it with any sort of hesitation. That court, in 2011, is the court I slipped on, actually on the other side from where I was at the start of the tiebreak.
I slipped on that court after a long rain delay after the court was a little bit humid, let's say. A couple hours later, I was in surgery. It just wasn't something I wanted to play with on my mind.
Thankfully the umpire was understanding. I wasn't decisive in saying, No, I'm not going to play, but I openly discussed it with him. He was understanding about it.
We resumed with maybe not ideal conditions, because it was still a little bit moist when we resumed, but at least less thought of it on my mind.

Q. Do you know if you might play tomorrow or Saturday?
MILOS RAONIC: I haven't heard anything yet. I would assume, since we both played quite early today, we would come back tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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