Milos Raonic overcomes his grasscourt phobia

Milos Raonic conquered his phobia of grass last year by reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals. Now he’s making up for lost time.

Canada’s Milos Raonic in action against Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open this year. Picture: Mark Stewart.

For even the most accomplished grasscourt player, those first tentative sprints, twists and turns of the year on a lush surface are an anxious time.

For Milos Raonic, never the most confident of men with the springy green stuff beneath the soles of his shoes, it is a serious test of nerve.

Raonic conquered his phobia of grass last year by reaching the Wimbledon semi-finals. Now, before contesting the Queen’s Club Championships in London next week for the first time, he is making up for lost time, having missed the French Open after foot surgery.

The big-hitting Canadian, whose enforced absence led to him dropping two places down the rankings to world No 8, had not practised properly for more than 10 weeks because of an agonising case of Morton’s neuroma that affected the nerve between two toes on his right foot.

“It’s time to get back playing and it’s certainly a challenge,” ­Raonic said as he prepared to practise on the Queen’s grass under the gaze of his coaches Riccardo Piatti and Ivan Ljubicic.

“Maybe the confidence is there after my results last year. However, most certainly not the comfort. But is the self-belief on grass comparable to hard court? No. When I am on hard court I know what to expect from myself every time.”

Raonic’s unease on grass dates to a heavy fall he suffered in only his second main-draw match at Wimbledon in 2011. He slipped on No 3 Court and injured his right hip so badly it required surgery, which kept him out of action for three months.

“Everything was going so quickly that year,” recalled the 24-year-old, who was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada with his parents, both engineers, when he was three. “After that it was difficult. The following year I asked if it was possible not to play on that court again. Sometimes the sun only hits it halfway and it doesn’t dry out.

“You try and tell yourself mentally it’s not a big deal on grass. It’s not an anxiety anymore but the first days, if it gets even a little bit wet, that’s it for practice. I’m not taking that risk again.

“Because in so many ways I tend to be as much of a perfectionist as I can, that tends to be my biggest downfall on grass. In my view, doing well on grass is all about playing as least worse as possible as you do on your best surface. It’s really about simplifying as much as you can, but sometimes you slow down a bit on serve because you think the ball goes through quicker.

“Last year I came to the conclusion that was where I was going wrong. So in practice, I began to hit every first serve as hard as I could. Then the muscle memory picked up on that and carried it into matches. Getting through to the semi-finals seemed to prove the point.”

Raonic, long perceived as somebody who will rise to the top and threaten the domination of the Big Four, was an interested television viewer last Sunday as Stanislas Wawrinka beat Novak Djokovic to win the French Open.

“This is a great time to be a part of tennis,’’ he said. “This is the golden age but no one is stepping away. You have to take it from them. Stan has done it twice, in Australia last year and in Paris. Marin has done it. Hopefully I can do it too.”

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