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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 17, 2018

Milos Raonic

Indian Wells, California

J.M. DEL POTRO/M. Raonic

6-2, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Working with Goran, has he explained his theory of the three Gorans to you in coaching? When he played he used to say the three Gorans: good Goran, bad Goran, and the mediator?
MILOS RAONIC: No.

Q. Hasn't worked you through those hard spots?
MILOS RAONIC: I haven't got into that conversation.

Q. What makes Del Potro such a tough opponent?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, you know, he's -- obviously, every time you play a little short, he punishes you. And over the last 12 months, 13 months since we last played, he has a lot more freedom on that backhand side to hit through it.

And I remember watching him. I didn't play him before his injuries, but his backhand was probably one of the things that was overlooked because the forehand was so hard. But the backhand, I remember when he won the US Open, he could hit it crosscourt without any guys being able to have the freedom of running around or anything. He's gotten that back quite a bit.

So, you know, he served well. He struck the ball well. I just didn't do what I needed to do.

Q. What was the big difference for you today as opposed to some of the earlier matches?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, just with the conditions and everything and the opportunities, he's played more matches in the last week than I played this year so far (smiling).

So it's these kind of things that just, you know, you fall into these -- even with the wind, a little bit tougher conditions today, you fall into these things a little bit easier.

You know, I was sort of trying to find a groove. Especially when you sort of haven't played for a while, you already are overthinking a lot of things. And then, with the wind, you're not sure. You don't have just that calm and ease about going through things and figuring things out on the fly.

Q. What is the main thing you wish you could have done better today?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't think there's one thing. There is a lot of things that were missing today.

Q. Why is the wind tougher for some people than others? It's tough for everybody, but what's the key to handling it better? Do you know?
MILOS RAONIC: I think it depends on, first of all, game styles. I have always actually been okay playing in the wind because most guys, they tend to slow down their shots when it gets windy. It gives me a lot more short balls that I can come forward on, put pressure on.

So I think it's -- it depends on game styles. You know, if a guy is ready to move his feet a lot and is sharp with his footwork especially, he's going to do generally well in the wind.

I think, you know, I think there is also margins that an individual plays with. The one I can think of probably off the top of my head of recent years is that match that Rafa played here against Andy in the final, just as an example of that.

Q. What was the toughest thing for you to coming back from an injury? Del Potro also said it's always still painful during play. How is your condition?
MILOS RAONIC: Things hurt, but thankfully it's things that are just aches. Especially when you don't play that much for a long time, when you play three, four, five, six days in a row, things just start to ache.

Thankfully none of the injuries or anything around there is causing any kinds of pain or concern. But, you know, it's just until you get used to -- especially on hard courts, until you get used to coming back day, after day, after day, just even training or matches, whichever it may be, you just ache a little bit more and more. And that just goes away with time.

When you don't have to step away for a long time, you never have anything that pushes you away, you take for granted how hard -- you know, especially a guy my size, how much it takes to really run and pound and jump and change direction on a hard court, or any surface, for that matter.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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