PETE ZIEBRON in CINCINNATI
Milos Raonic on his first day in the ATP Top Ten at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati. Pete Ziebron Images
Canadian Milos Raonic, fresh off his Montreal Masters 1000 final appearance, greeted the media in Cincinnati yesterday before hustling to the practice courts. Raonic finally cracked the ATP top ten this week at world #10 due in large part to his deep run in Montreal.
For many, it was just a matter of time until Raonic reached the top ten. However the fact that this moment took until August 2013 is a bit surprising given the offensive weapons that Raonic possesses on the tennis court. Perhaps, Raonic was wondering the same thing recently as he parted ways with coach Galo Blanco and hired Ivan Ljubicic at the beginning of Roland Garros.
Ivan Ljubicic consults with Milos Raonic a few hours prior to his first round match with Jack Sock. Pete Ziebron Images
In yesterday's press conference, I asked Raonic to elaborate his decision to go with Ljubicic:
"It's a decision that took a lot of thought and a lot of discussion process, because it was about making sure that we see eye to eye on what I need to do and to compete with the best guys and what I need to do to get better and to be able to achieve my goals.
We did see eye to eye in the aspect of being able to ‑‑ in trying to find a way to be more aggressive playing, find more opportunities to go forward, and focus a lot on development and knowing that this was the most important thing for me to achieve what I want to achieve in tennis.
I felt like him, knowing the way he played and knowing how particularly smart he was on court at solving solutions and how he saw the game really well, this gave me a lot of confidence that he would be able to translate and sort of pass on his advice to me."
Last week at the Montreal Masters 1000, Raonic recorded a string of impressive wins over Juan Martin del Potro, Ernests Gulbis and countryman Vasek Pospisil in front of his home fans before falling to 25-time Masters 1000 Champion Rafael Nadal.
The fresh perspectives that Ljubicic provides paid early dividends for Milos Raonic last week in Montreal as he elaborated:
"I think, when I've been speaking with Ivan and when I've been speaking with, not just him, but other people on the team, the message has always been, Keep doing the work and it's going to pay off.
The thing in tennis, and I think in every sport, you just don't know when that payoff is going to be. So I was making sure to keep doing every day and every week the right kind of effort and the right kind of focus and the right kind of determination, the work.
I think last week the work was done, and I think also with that whole situation of in that crowd, I think it helps you in those tougher moments just sort of getting through them.
So I think that sort of got the whole process moving in the right way, and then I think just pieces started coming together more and more. I think that's sort of helped with the outcome of the week."
Unlike the top eight players that receive a first round bye in Cincinnati, Raonic has a quick turnaround from his final in Montreal on Sunday and opens his campaign at the Western & Southern Open tonight against American wild card Jack Sock on the Grandstand court. Sock defeated Raonic in 3 sets this February in Memphis, where Raonic was the two-time defending Champion.
Most likely Coach Ivan Ljubicic will provide Milos Raonic with a new game plan for tonight's match.
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