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THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 9, 2018

Milos Raonic

Wimbledon, London, England

M. RAONIC/M. McDonald

6-3, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How do you rate that among the four matches you played here so far?
MILOS RAONIC: It's good. I was more aggressive. I led off sort of how I came back on Saturday to finish off that third match. I'm pretty happy with things.

I missed a few opportunities in the third set. Then I just sort of let up a little bit, and he played well in that tiebreaker. Other than that, it was a pretty clean match. I didn't face any breakpoints, I don't believe. I did a lot of things well.

Q. Hard to say, but tell us your thoughts on Macky's future.
MILOS RAONIC: He's solid from the back. He's doing things well. I think coming in here, he was 103 or 4 in the world. That's going to put him around 80, 70. It's going to give him a chance to play at least all the 250s, being in the quallies of all the tournaments. It's going to carry him, what is it, 180 points for the full year now. He's going to have a chance to do well.

He can definitely climb up into the top 50 over the next few months. He's going to have a lot of draws and probably even some wild cards if he needs them in the U.S. tournaments, playing on home soil.

He can do well.

Q. Game-wise how would you analyze his game?
MILOS RAONIC: He's solid. Obviously his serve I think will continue to improve. From the back he's quite solid. It's hard for me really to judge because I was trying to keep things really short, to never let him get into a groove. He moves well. He'll continue moving well. He'll have a chance to play a lot from the back.

I think his kind of game style is going to come down a lot to mental. I think he's quite strong mentally.

Q. John Isner is in a place where he hasn't been before, this far at Wimbledon. How would you assess the matchup against him and the keys to it?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, the keys is going to come down to one, two, three points here and there. That's pretty much it. I don't think we're going to have many consecutive opportunities on each other's serves. It's going to be coming down to those moments about being sharp in the right moments, who is going to be able to step up, be the one that's able to dictate, putting more pressure on the other guy.

I think it's going to be decided by small margins.

Q. How would you describe his serve?
MILOS RAONIC: Incredible.

Q. Are there subtleties that people might not pick up on while the scoreboard is moving quickly by, headed towards tiebreaks, little things you would look for?
MILOS RAONIC: When it does get into the rallies, who is the one that's aggressor I think is going to be the most important thing. We're going to probably serve, most likely, an equal amount of games. We'll probably be pretty quick most of the time.

When it does get down to the points where somebody is able to, let's say, neutralize a point, it's going to be about who can take that forward and be the aggressor shortly after.

So the margins will be small. But I think it's going to come down to those kind of little subtleties.

Q. A lot of guys don't like playing you because you have a big serve and you're powerful. How do you feel the other way around?
MILOS RAONIC: It's definitely not pleasant. It's not enjoyable. You can't get any rhythm, these kind of things.

But I'm aware he feels the same way. So I think we're sort of both playing with the same type of fire. It's about who can sort of temper the other guy's better.

Q. You seem fairly calm during pauses in play. What is your goal of what you're trying to achieve physically and mentally?
MILOS RAONIC: It's about resetting. Obviously you try to hydrate, get some food every once in a while, these kind of things. It's just really about resetting and maybe take a moment to really see how things are playing out.

The rest is just about putting yourself on sort of a clean slate before you stand up and go to the other side so you can hopefully play well.

Q. How do you feel you match up against Isner in terms of your ground game and returns? Everybody talks about both of your serves. Where do you feel you have an edge against him in those areas, key little moments?
MILOS RAONIC: You know, I think I can move a little bit better than he can. He's got a bigger wingspan than I do. I think probably the thing is, neither of us behind our serves is hitting extremely difficult volleys. I think I feel more comfortable than he does up there.

I think the margins are small. It's these kind of things. It's going to come down to really being disciplined with yourself. Just because opportunities arise, if you let the other guy be the aggressor, you get passive, it's going to hurt you pretty quickly.

Q. You have faced a lot of players with big serves. Who do you think has the toughest serve? Of the others, who do you think has the best serve, like Roger or somebody else?
MILOS RAONIC: I think it's different for everybody. I think physicality plays a big part of it. You have Karlovic that hits from a higher point than anybody else. You have John who hits much higher than anybody else. Me and Nick I think are pretty much a similar height. We have maybe a bit more shoulder and arm speed. Obviously we're not hitting from the same height point.

Outside, I think Roger that has one of the best serves I think. I think the important thing isn't really, when you look at what defines a player with a good serve, it's not so much if you can hit the spots, it's if you can hit the spots well.

I think it's even when guys are able to get the racquet on the ball. There are certain guys that have a heavy serve. It's not just about getting the racquet in front of the ball, guiding it back. There's a weight to the serve.

Obviously when you talk generations back, Sampras had that, Goran had that, Rusedski had that. Even if you knew where the guy was serving, it's hard to control it back. There's a lot of factors that come in.

Q. Any other names that you didn't mention?
MILOS RAONIC: Muller has a good serve, especially he's the only one of us that's a lefty. There's plenty. I would have to go through a list off the top of my head.

Q. You have a really solid record at Wimbledon over the last few years. Is it the grass surface that's helping you so much or something bigger, more significant that you feel when you get to this place?
MILOS RAONIC: I think the surface definitely helps. The fact that it's a surface that's going to allow me to come forward more. It's going to help my volleys when I'm at the net stay a little bit lower, these kind of things. It's harder for other guys to move. Guys move extremely well. If they're not moving as well, it's hard for them to be in balance for passing shots.

So the margins are small, but it still makes a difference. Obviously I've played well here. It's halfway into the year. I tend to play quite a few matches on grass because I'm able to find my way through. I enjoy it. I think there's a lot of factors to it.

Q. You mentioned Goran briefly there. Has Goran been excited or distracted about what's going on with Croatia this week?
MILOS RAONIC: He's definitely excited, but I don't think it's leading to distraction.

Q. Has he talked to you about it?
MILOS RAONIC: Every two years when you come to Wimbledon, you buckle down in a house out here, you don't make it to London too much. It's nice to have the Euro Cup or the World Cup to have something to talk about every two years here, something to watch after matches and practices.

Q. Presumably if he lost, would he have gone out there? He might have even got a ticket for it.
MILOS RAONIC: I think you need to sit down with him and discuss this. I don't know his whole travel plan.

Q. John hasn't done well at Wimbledon before this year. He was saying he thought it being hotter, courts getting more baked was helping his serve. Do you feel like the conditions are different especially for big servers?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I think the ball is coming up a little bit more. It gives you more things to sort of hit down on, hit through the court on. You're not bending over as much. Obviously that's going to help him.

I like to use the slice to come in, these kind of things. I like both conditions when it comes to being on grass. I think it's definitely been the warmest and the most consistently warmest week that I've ever played here.

It definitely is a factor when it's a living court. It's the only live surface we play on.

Q. How does it feel to be back in the quarterfinals?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it's nice. It's fun. It's exciting. It's another opportunity. It's another opportunity to go further along in this tournament. Hopefully I can make the most of that.

Q. A, B, C, D, if you grade your serving performance today, what would you give yourself? Can you remember an A plus or many A pluses?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I can remember them. Maybe an A minus maybe. A few games I fell behind. That was it. Didn't necessarily serve the best in the tiebreak. But that's the only little fault I made today.

Q. And the A plus that you can remember having had?
MILOS RAONIC: I had a -- I think I had two very good serving matches in Stuttgart.

Q. Any chance to go to the Tate or Royal Academy?
MILOS RAONIC: It's been exciting. I was here throughout the whole -- during the French Open, here playing early on grass. I had a chance to go to both the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern. I thought the All Too Human show was great at the Tate Britain.

Also auctions going on during that period of time. Wasn't the most exciting auction season here in London. There's been a lot of big stories the last six months. I think that sort of raised the standard of what people are expecting art to sell for, in the hundreds of millions. If you don't have something that's selling at that price, it maybe sometimes goes under the radar. It's been fun.

Q. An artist you could choose to do a portrait of you?
MILOS RAONIC: Living or dead?

Q. All time.
MILOS RAONIC: It's all time, you got to go back to Da Vinci, Michelangelo. It's something you can't fathom, so I think that makes it more special.

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