Riding the Wave - Milos Raonic blogs from Johannesburg

Submitted by Pro Players on Wed, 02/02/2011 - 3:53pm

I decided to write a blog for you guys today. I will try not to bore you all with my tennis because you can follow that on many different websites. I will let you in a bit more on my life and how tennis affects it.

Firstly, a lot has changed for me over the course of the last 2 weeks. On January 12, I was one of 128 qualifiers fighting for a spot in the main draw of the 2011 Australian Open, and on January 24, I was playing on Hisense Arena for a spot in the quarter-finals. It was an experience like no other. I was there with the best fighting for a spot in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. A lot of attention came with this and I am enjoying it for the time being, but it’s not easy to deal with on a daily basis, it gets tiring.

The day after I finished the tournament, I made a trip to the Melbourne Zoo where I got to pet the koalas, kangaroos, and elephants. Being that it was my first time at a zoo this venture was unreal, every animal I got close to made me feel like my jaw was dropping to the ground. The same night I hopped on a plane and flew to Johannesburg for the ATP 250 event here. With difficult conditions, I needed time to adjust to the altitude, atmosphere, and of course the time change. I also made a venture into the wild here as I went to the Lion and Rhino Reserve. I got to play with baby rhinos, baby lions (white and brown ones), a lynx, and a cheetah. Again, this was an experience like no other. I kept saying "this is unbelievable". I was playing with a brown baby lion and it was sucking on my finger. It was the cutest thing ever.

That’s how I have been dealing with the tennis and the amazing life outside of it. Today I won my first round, after qualifying. I beat the second seed, Lu from the Chinese Taipei. I played a good match and tomorrow I play my second round match against Simon Greul.

Thanks for all the support, it means a lot to me!



www.lovemeansnothing.ca/blog

Milos Raonic - Back in T.O.

Submitted by Pro Players on Sun, 03/27/2011 - 7:38pm



Hi everybody,

It's been a while since I wrote my first blog and a lot has changed for me in my life. Things have gotten a lot better. Especially me! I write to you from my flight back to the "Great White North". From what I hear there was a bit of snow a few days ago so I can imagine there will be a sheet of white everywhere. I will be coming home for the first time since December 28th, two days short of being on the road for a full 3 months. I look forward to it. I miss home but I won't be home for long and I will be quite busy but it will be nice to be back after all that has happened in the last little while.

The things I look forward to the most are; experiencing the national reaction to everything that has happened, foods I have been craving, and being with family and friends. Firstly it's gonna be amazing to finally be home after everything that's happened, I want to be able to share it with friends and family and enjoy this little break. I stay connected with Twitter and Facebook, follow me, @milosraonic. People have been telling me the country is behind me and proud of me and this is the best thing I could hear from anyone. It's dear to me and it means a lot. I want to be able to give back and keep representing Canada well. So this will be fun. As well, I am craving big time this all you can eat sushi place near my house as well this chicken wing place with 100+ flavors. Mmm, I am going to feast on my favorites this weekend and some of my mom's delicious home cooked food too. Lastly friends and family, no matter where you are in the world you cannot replace these people, so getting to see them will be special. After all they are the ones that have been there for me since the beginning.

I hope the tennis community is proud of me and I look forward to working hard and getting better. I want to represent this country well, after all it's amazing to be Canadian. I hope this has been a spark in the up and coming youngsters. We can do this, we can have more players at the top of the ATP and WTA. Keep working hard and work harder than ever before because only you can limit yourself and what you can achieve.

From thirty-something-thousand feet up in the air,

Your tennis ambassador,

Milos Raonic

www.lovemeansnothing.ca/blog