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WIMBLEDON

June 27, 2016

Milos Raonic

London, England

M. RAONIC/P. Busta
7‑6, 6‑2, 6‑4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Would it be harsh to say not good but good enough?
MILOS RAONIC: Oh, I thought it was good. It's the first match of the tournament. I didn't expect to pick up where I left off in Queen's by any means, but I think I did the things well. I created opportunities. Even in that first set I had a few looks on his serve or I was in most of his service games. Maybe lost my concentration a few times on my service games, but I was always able to bring myself back and efficient out there. Didn't spend too much time on court, which was nice.

Q. Why did you decide to working with John McEnroe for the grass season?
MILOS RAONIC: It didn't have much to do with the grass season other than I felt it was a time I could work on really coming forward more and these kind of things.
But I brought him along and I was grateful that he accepted it to really emphasize coming forward and making life more difficult for my opponents and sort of trying to keep them off balance more.

Q. As a person who is pursuing his first major title, what are your observations of the way Novak Djokovic has done what he's done and winning four straight and now halfway to the calendar year slam?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, he's obviously done incredible things. It's not just now. He had that great season in 2011, as well. He's always sort of looked not only on court but off court for what his process is to really get the best out of himself and he sort of found it.
People can attest to the way he eats and all these kind of things. I think those are small supplementary parts of it, but he's clearly been the best player the last half decade on court. That's for sure.

Q. When you see him on the court, you know, for us who watch it's far different than when a player watches him. Is there one thing or more than one thing that you notice most, nuances in his game that you think set him apart?
MILOS RAONIC: I think he's just the most solid out of anybody. He's gotten to that point which takes confidence but also which takes experience where, if he senses a little bit of sort of blood, he takes advantage of it the quickest.
I think the match final of the French Open was an example of that, how one game can really change around, and he gets in those instances and makes the most of them.

Q. Are you looking for your own process? Is that why you're always experimenting with different things and trying to see what the right combination is?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. I have tried many different things. I have tried just different ways of organizing practice scheduling and all these kind of things. Always I'm trying because you see some guys spend a lot of time on court; some guys spend shockingly little amounts of time on court but it works for them.
So I'm constantly trying to figure out what's the balance of how much I can put in work and then also understanding the importance of recovery. Trying to find that balance constantly.

Q. You were in the same room last year after your loss to Kyrgios. How does it feel to sort of be back here and be through a round here this year?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, I have pretty much disregarded that pretty quickly (smiling).
No, it's good to be back. I feel like I'm doing a lot of things well. I really enjoy playing this tournament and hopefully I can make it count.

Q. Did you notice John McEnroe showing up, and he stood up during some of the points you won going to the net. Talk about your net play and what you've learned from him.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, John is one of the more positive people, especially a contrast to the way he might have been on court. That was the thing probably that's taken me aback the most. He's very persistent in enforcing the positive things you do well. I think he shows that‑‑ he showed that a lot last week and obviously was great for him to ‑‑he had the time off obviously between qually matches to come out there and watch and to support.
I'm sure we'll discuss it later, as well, but it's good to have him here and that he made that time possible.

Q. Were you happy with your net play? You seemed to stick with it.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, other than when I was sort of getting ahead of myself or not fully focused coming forward. I think I did things well. I came forward. I made it difficult for Carreno out there.

Q. When you see a Wimbledon towel and you think about its popularity among fans, what does a Wimbledon towel mean to you and what do you like about it?
MILOS RAONIC: I prefer the white towels. I use white towels. I don't know why. I prefer white towels because they're washed. Sometimes the Wimbledon towels are brand new and they barely absorb anything. They leave fluff everywhere. When I go out on court I ask for white towels always.

Q. Do people ask you to bring them Wimbledon towels?
MILOS RAONIC: Oh, yeah. I keep one maybe for myself, if any. The rest is for family and friends.

Q. Seppi. Can you get anything out of that Davis Cup match you played with him a couple years ago?
MILOS RAONIC: I have practiced with him a lot. I think that's more of significant use to me. I have practiced with him a lot. We shared my fitness trainer for a while at first, and then later on no.
But I understand and I'm pretty sure I know what he's going to try to do out there on court, what he's going to look to put me in, what kind of positions.
I think he must have played really well. Obviously I didn't get to watch any of the match, but to have that kind of score line Guillermo who plays well on grass, he must have played really well. I'm going to have to sort of keep him off balance and play as much as I can on my terms.

Q. What's with the mouth guard?
MILOS RAONIC: The mouth guard has been there since the beginning of this year. Obviously struggled with my back last year for about six months and cut my season short. So I ventured to see what I can do to help me prevent dealing with that pain. Maybe I won't be able to solve my back issue completely, but at least I can keep it under wraps.
I got rid of orthotics and went to a mouth guard as a way to sort of align my spine.

Q. Is this something you chew down on when you're serving?
MILOS RAONIC: I think the whole point is so you don't grind you're teeth. So I think it's meant to give you like a certain amount of spacing which doesn't force muscles to tense up and so forth.

Q. No orthotics? That means the shoe as it comes and you put it on?
MILOS RAONIC: Yes.

Q. Does it feel different?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it took getting used to. I've played with orthotics since I was 10 years old. It took getting used to. But now it's nice, if somebody steals your shoes, you don't have to worry about a pair of orthotics.

Q. Has that happened?
MILOS RAONIC: No, but it's the thing you worry about the most. Where are you going to find those?
I'm pretty protective of my mouth guard, though, but at least it stays in my mouth all day, other than when I eat. I have had to go through garbage cans a few times.

Q. Do you ever watch Curry play?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, that's a little too much. Putting it by your armpit and all this kind of stuff, what basketball guys do. I keep mine in my mouth.

Q. How many have you got? Mouth guards?
MILOS RAONIC: Two or three, including one in my mouth.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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