Milos Raonic advanced to the semifinals at Wimbledon on Day 10 of competition. This story appears in the current issue of Sportsnet magazine.
It was a simple question—”Who is the world’s most underrated tennis player?”—with an even simpler answer: “Me.” That was Milos Raonic’s response in a questionnaire the 25-year-old filled out for The Players’ Tribune in June. And he just might be right.
After an injury-riddled 2015 season (that saw him reach a career-best No. 4 in the world the same week he announced he was undergoing foot surgery last May), Raonic has, to limited fanfare, bounced back emphatically. He reached at least the quarterfinals in six of the first seven tournaments he appeared in this year (including three finals), with wins over a pair of top-five talents, Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer—the latter coming in the final of the Brisbane International in January. Heading into Wimbledon, Raonic showed no signs of slowing down, taking Andy Murray down to the wire at the Queen’s Club in London.
The win against Federer and the fight against Murray showed the advancement he’s making against tennis’s big four, although the casual Canadian tennis fan may be waiting to see more success against the biggest names before buying a seat on the Raonic train. But what they’d have missed is Raonic’s 8-2 record against top-20 opponents ranked below the big four since his return from injury, the only losses coming to Nick Kyrgios, whom he beat on grass in their most recent matchup in June. Heading into hard-court season, his strongest surface, and with a more well-rounded arsenal at his disposal than ever, it’s safe to say Raonic’s stunning 2016 season won’t stay under the radar for long.