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ROGERS CUP

July 29, 2016

Milos Raonic

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

G. MONFILS/M. Raonic

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Was feeling the pressure a factor at all for you tonight?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't think so. I think it was just -- you know, I think I looked at the numbers. I lost 12 points on my serve, and 8 of those were in two games that I played quite poorly. That's what it came down to. I had a few looks on his and didn't make the most of that.

Q. As in any sport, I guess you do win some and you do lose some. Do you look at tonight as one of those nights? It wasn't that you played poorly? Just a couple mistakes here and there made the difference?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, there's definitely disappointment in the way I lost my serve. Out of the eight points I lost in those two service games, I think five of them were my own forehand mistakes, quite poor mistakes, I'd say. But other than that I think there's good things to take away.

Obviously there's the other side of that, as well, but I will pay attention to and do my best not to repeat that kind of slump again.

Q. It seems not too long ago we didn't use to have big-name athletes from other sports come and support tennis. Tennis has grown so much on the Canadian stage, and a lot of that is because of you. What are your thoughts? I saw on your Twitter page you had well wishes from Connor McDavid. Your thoughts on athletes like that coming to support tennis now?
MILOS RAONIC: No, it's phenomenal. It's just a testament to the culture of sport in Canada, and I'm sure that's happened that way across many different aspects, as well. I'm sure it happened that way when Mike Weir was a pioneer on the golf side.

I'm sure it's happened that way in many other forms. The best thing that we, as Canadians, are very supportive of one another. I've gotten some great support from current athletes, past athletes, and it's been very endearing and very special because athletes are the people I look up to the most.

Q. It was a packed house tonight, and the crowd is very loud and obviously very much in your favor. How does that feel, and how much of a factor for you were the fans and their support?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it's great. It makes it a little bit easier when those tough moments happen. I was trying to get them involved. If I could have maybe been a bit more efficient, converted a few opportunities, I could have done a better job with that. But I have to say I'm grateful for the kind of reception I got throughout this entire week so far, three matches on court. Off the court, as well, it's been phenomenal. It's a great honor to play in front of that kind of appreciation and respect from the Canadians. It's not something I get to do too often, so it's a very special feeling.

Q. As you said, you had a few loose points here or there, but it just seemed like he hardly gave you anything the whole match.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, well, he was doing a lot of good things. He played well. He played smart in the right moments. He was making the shots. He was doing a lot of things.

There was definitely moments where I could have been more aggressive and taken it to him. There were moments where I hesitated. There were moments where I rushed. I didn't find that middle ground as I had against him the last few times we played. I think that's the thing I was looking for the most.

He's been playing phenomenal these last 10 plus days, and he won last week. He's been playing well this week, and he's been very tough. He hasn't lost over the last 10 days.

Q. Moving forward to Cincinnati and the US Open, what do you think you need to work on the most to do well with those tournaments?
MILOS RAONIC: I think I've just got to generally improve. I've got to spend time on court. I think I'll have that opportunity over this next little while.

I'll get in better shape. I'll get all these things in order so I can hopefully be playing better and better first for Cincinnati and then hopefully another step forward come US Open time.

Q. Having the crowd here again, I'm sure you think about winning the Rogers Cup. The crowd wants you to win. I'm not sure "disappointed" is the right word, but do you have any sort of disappointment? And what do you take from today's loss into the next tournament? Of course Cincinnati and US Open.
MILOS RAONIC: Well, you try to learn from it, and "disappointment" is the right word. In tennis, unless you're the guy winning the tournaments most of the weeks, which there's very few guys that are doing that, you're losing quite a bit.

So it's very important to make the most of those, try to learn, try to be better from those situations. That's my next objective. I'll look back at this and give it the right amount of perspective and try to take it to the next process, next step forward, to be better next time, to not let these kind of things repeat themselves, to adjust a bit better and deal with this better come next tournament, come the tournaments after.

I think mistakes can happen. I think it's when you let them happen numerous times, that's the unfortunate part.

Q. What's your coaching schedule like with John? Have you discussed it?
MILOS RAONIC: He will be there to help me over the next two weeks leading -- the next training block before Cincinnati. And then he'll be there as a similar role like he had at Wimbledon, consulting, because he's obviously doing the commentating throughout the US Open.

Q. In tennis, can players kind of ride momentum? I'm just thinking of the way that GaÃ«l has basically come in now winning nine matches in a row.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, you can. You definitely can. It makes a big difference. There is certain moments where you can tell it makes a difference on big points. There was necessarily that long point that I had a few opportunities on that break point, and he hits a great forehand crosscourt short, pulls me outside the court. Those are moments where that shot, without confidence, can go the wrong way. With confidence, it can be played the right way.

There are those moments it really does make a difference. You don't hesitate as much when you're confident. You go through the shots. You're a bit more efficient converting opportunities. That was definitely happening out there.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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