	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

CITI OPEN

August 1, 2019

Milos Raonic

Washington D.C.

P. GOJOWCZYK/M. Raonic

6-4, 6-4

Q. How's the back? Is it just stiff?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, sort of just stiffened up on me. But had some work just done on it now, nothing of any concern, so overall I guess it's unfortunate it happened during the match, but overall it's nothing to worry about.

Q. Performance-wise probably weren't too happy with the way things shook out?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I just didn't play well, didn't serve that well. I got close on a bunch of his games, but couldn't make it count when it was the most important. Just quite a disappointing performance, but in tennis I guess the good thing is you have next week to look forward to.

Q. Did you find he was reading your serve a little bit?
MILOS RAONIC: No, I felt like he goes for a lot, so I knew he was going to get ahead on some of them, but I just felt like I wasn't hitting my spots. I felt like I was lacking with the delivery, and once I sort of let him get comfortable and settled in, it just got easier and easier for him.

Q. When on the back scale do you fall from having no concern to somewhat of a concern?
MILOS RAONIC: If somebody can tell me it's something that's really causing a diagnosis of something serious, and I think right now it's just what happened in the matches is I get a little bit tired and then the back just sort of goes out of balance, and it just starts to stiffen up on me to protect, but fortunately at this point it's not protecting any kind of trauma or any kind of serious deformity. It's just the way it is right now.

Q. Will this have any effect on being able to successfully compete next week at the Rogers Cup?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, the thing that's going to be the most important there is the level I can put forth, not this situation with my back.

Q. With the back, you're not finding any pain in your legs at all from the back, it's just strictly in the lower back?
MILOS RAONIC: No, it's strictly low. It doesn't radiate anywhere. It just stays there. It tightens up on me, and it's one of those things I guess with the back, it's just your body on its own just starts to protect a bit more than other parts. I've had many times where legs can hurt or something else can hurt, but there's not a lot of small muscles there that just sort of tighten up on you and start to protect it. So your body subconsciously just reacts a little bit differently, that's it.

Q. With regard to Rogers Cup in Montreal, how important is that for you?
MILOS RAONIC: It's up there. I've always said, it's up there as one of the most tournaments in my schedule. I always have seen it as the Grand Slams and the Rogers Cup, whether it be in Montreal or Toronto. I've always wanted to do well there. I've played really well once in the past. I've played reasonably well a few other times. Hopefully I can find some good level of play and make a good push.

Q. You're going to Montreal from here?
MILOS RAONIC: Yes.

Q. Tomorrow?
MILOS RAONIC: I don't know necessarily what time, but I don't think there's too many flights.

Q. Is it better, so to speak, that you're not the center of attention maybe all the time now, like Felix is going home to Montreal, Denis obviously had the run there two years ago. You can -- I won't say fly under the radar, but maybe you're not the center of attention that you sometimes were?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I've never necessarily seen it that way. I'm sort of always looking for things that I can do better, and I don't really ever look at things from other people's perspectives. I sort of tried to always see it from my own, what I can do better and how I can do better. It's good to have many of us doing well, many of us having the possibility to make good pushes at the big tournaments, and home being one of the highlights, as well. But I've just got to really focus on what I can do better and how to get the best out of myself.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297