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ROLAND GARROSMay 28, 2014Milos RaonicPARIS, FRANCE M. RAONIC/J. Vesely THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. How did you feel in that match, especially at the beginning where first set was obviously the toughest of the three? MILOS RAONIC: I think it can sort of be divided in a few pieces. I felt like in the beginning I was just missing a little bit of intensity, and I was letting him dictate a little bit too much. Then in the important moments I played the right way. In the tiebreaker he came up with a very good shot when I was up 1‑Love to pass me down the line. At the beginning of the second I sort of fell into the same slump a little bit with intensity, but then I feel like I did the right thing for the rest of the match and I gave myself plenty of opportunities. Q. Did you see the level of your game going up from the first match, which is obviously what you want in a slam? MILOS RAONIC: It is. I feel like I'm playing better today than I did three days ago, and I think I dealt a little bit better with when I got things figured out as far as intensity. I held it on a little bit better where I struggled a little bit with my match three days ago. Q. When was the last time you played a guy that was taller than you? MILOS RAONIC: There is quite a few guys actually now on tour; John, Sam, Cilic, quite a few guys. Q. So it's not unnormal? MILOS RAONIC: Not unnormal. Q. Just want to ask you: What is the role the weather is playing right now? How is it making the game different this year compared to maybe the previous year? MILOS RAONIC: Well, last year was the same, I feel like. But maybe previously before that, it tends to be just a bit bouncier and quicker. But most tournaments actually this year have been a little bit heavier. Rome was most of the time it was cloudy with, especially at night, humid. Monte‑Carlo was not really as warm because it's earlier in the spring season. So it's playing a little bit slower than you would expect here in Paris, but it's been going well so far. Q. Heavier ball, does it take a little bit of zing off your serve sometimes? MILOS RAONIC: But I feel like it helps me also. Gives me more opportunities and gives me more time to set up on my baseline game as well as on my returns. Q. You're not an old guy but do you feel experience was a bit of a factor there today? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, just dealing with and sort of knowing, seeing sort of the opportunities. Both times I was able to break back soon after I got broken. It was just sort of putting the right approach and the right attitude. Q. By the sounds outside, did you hear that little contingent of kids who were cheering for you right beside the court? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it was nice. I guess it's a field trip. Q. Kids' Day. MILOS RAONIC: Oh, it's Kids' Day. It's nice. It pumps a little bit more energy in a bit of a gloomy day. Q. It's actually a field trip from Thornhill, Ontario. MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I'm sure (laughter). Q. How do you feel about Simon? Just the one time in Estoril against him? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I played him on clay there. I think I'm a much better player than I was back then, but at the same time I believe he plays much better here than he does throughout the rest of the clay events. It's going to be a difficult match. But I think I will have my opportunities to take control and dictate, and that's going to be the most important thing. Q. It's a Grand Slam, and it's also your business. Obviously you want to come out for every single match and be intense. Do you have any theories about why sometimes you come out and there is a lack of intensity and sometimes everything just goes just fine? Are there any particular factors that play into that? Do you have any ideas? MILOS RAONIC: I think also sometimes you go in maybe sort of calculating, because it is three out of five, which you're a little bit unused to because you play really only four, maybe five if you play Davis Cup and so forth, five times a year. I think that's really the only thing. But there really is no ‑‑and also, at the beginning of matches you sort of try to find your way into it. You can't go out trying to hit close to the line, because that's never going to really work. Maybe once in a while it will. But you sort of have to find your way in. I just wasn't gradually picking it up the way I needed to during the first. Q. After last week in Rome, your confidence levels, are they different coming into this Grand Slam after pushing Djokovic so close? Do you really feel you have a good chance at this tournament to go all the way? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. I think I have given myself just not results specifically ‑‑I think that's helped, but I think I have given myself over the last year or so a lot of opportunities because I feel like I'm getting better consistently, and I feel like I have significantly improved. Q. What would be the key if you're playing like a French player at a French Open or an American player at the US Open, a seeded player like you did with Gilles Simon, what's the key crowd‑wise? How do you keep your focus in what you're trying to do? MILOS RAONIC: The lines are the same, courts are the same. Go out there and play tennis. Q. Doesn't bother you at all? MILOS RAONIC: I hope not. Q. This Davis Cup atmosphere? MILOS RAONIC: No, I have played in it a few times in Davis Cup, and I have ‑‑I just focus on myself. I can't control what goes on and what happens outside of the court. Q. A lot of upsets again this year. Do you see the younger generation stepping in and challenging the established guys this year? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. It would be nice. But I'm just focused on myself. Q. You seem to be hitting your forehand better and your backhand better and you're moving well and all that stuff. Inside yourself as you're playing, are you feeling that, too? MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I feel like I have significantly improved, and I feel like we have been doing a lot of work not only on court but even bigger amounts off court. And it's allowing me to move better and be in better position, sort of control my body better in those tough situations, allowing me to play better and so forth. Q. Can you think back to the match that you played against Lleyton Hewitt at the Australian Open which probably seems like a million years ago by now and what you learned from that one? That's a similar situation as he was talking about in terms of playing a Frenchman here in Paris. MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it definitely is. I think the only thing it really brought out was the best in Lleyton. I don't think it really got down on me. I have been in situations since then, I have played James in NewYork, so I have been in similar situations and I can't really predict, assume, or worry too much about what's going to be happening and what's going to be said. I've got to focus really on just playing. Davis Cup last year, it's never easy playing Novak in a Serbian crowd. There is many situations I have really been in. I have learned from them, and I just keep it within myself. Q. I know you haven't played on the center court here. How much would you enjoy doing that? There is like obviously a chance if you're playing Simon. MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, that would be a great opportunity. But I haven't really given it too much thought. Just as it would be something gratifying in a way, just because this one here in Chatrier. And out at Wimbledon I haven't played on either of those two center courts. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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