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Milos Raonic QF interview

  • lost to Lucas Pouille 6-7(4) 3-6 7-6(2) 4-6

Q. In what way was the match on court different from how you expected and how you planned it?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, I think I wish maybe I would have played better. That's the only thing. But I saw the way he's been playing this week. The last few matches, he's been playing extremely well. I knew he was going to make things difficult.

I wish I would have just served better and cleaned up some aspects of my game where I felt like I was just a little bit behind.

Q. Were you surprised at all how well he returned serve?
MILOS RAONIC: Yes, a few times he did surprise me. But then, no, when I sort of had the chance to look back at it, I don't think I put in a high first-serve percentage today relative to the other days. I just didn't take care of the things I needed to take care of.

Q. Do you regret the challenge you called at 2-3 in the first set tiebreak, as that kind of delayed the second set, led to the double-fault, that was the point that eventually cost the tiebreak?
MILOS RAONIC: Oh, no. If you think it might be in, you challenge it.

Q. When you're not having a great serving day or the standards when you're in a tournament, can you tell early? If so, what do you go through to try to turn it around?
MILOS RAONIC: You can tell pretty early on by the looks the other player's getting. You also look at the speed gun you sort of see where you're at, so you have that reference point. I felt at the beginning of the match I was tossing the ball a little bit too far forward. It was not helping my serving percentage. I tried to adjust those little things and tried to do things a little bit differently. I just tried to fight as much as I could with what I had to work with.

Q. What is your level of disappointment after that?
MILOS RAONIC: I would say quite disappointed, yeah.

Q. What is your plan now?
MILOS RAONIC: Just got to evaluate where I'm at. Have to have a checkup done on my knee, then see what's sort of in the schedule for the next few weeks. I'm not sure if I can play the Davis Cup, switching surfaces, for one week. I'm going to sort of take the next 24 hours to make that decision. Then it would be to play indoors in Rotterdam.

Q. For the Davis Cup, there's obviously an extra spot available. Are you a 'no' or are you a 'probably not'?
MILOS RAONIC: Well, I just have to see.

Q. Is the knee a situation?
MILOS RAONIC: The knee sort of is in the scenario where it was last year. It's tough for me to switch for clay because of the rotation. There is damage inside my knee that I'm aware of that I'm trying to avoid potentially having to have surgery on.

I don't know if I can afford that risk at this moment.

Q. Do you know, is Denis playing in Bratislava?
MILOS RAONIC: I would imagine so, yes. That's what I've heard of the latest.

Q. If you were to advise Pouille on his next match, what would be one or two things you would advise him to focus on?
MILOS RAONIC: Not to expect that he needs to do too much more, and just to play within himself. I think that's the biggest thing. It's not so much only the opponent you're facing, but it's also the situation, which is a completely new one for him. I think he has to stay true to himself, try to do the things he does well, really focus on that aspect more than anything else.