Milos Raonic says that the reaction to Canada’s Davis Cup quarterfinal victory over visiting Italy earlier this month showed how popular tennis is becoming in his nation.
“It's been amazing back home,” Raonic told reporters in Monte Carlo. “I flew out the next day, so I haven't had the opportunity to sort of relish and be a part of it. But to get the kind of recognition we did as a team, and myself, has been pretty spectacular. Getting pretty much every newspaper in the country the front page, giving us a lot of attention for tennis, which I think will help the sport grow, which is a very important thing to me.”
The 15th-ranked Raonic, who defeated Julien Benneteau in the first round of Monte Carlo, added that his clay-court game is coming around.
“From the first year to last year to this year, it's not as much of a mental stress,” he said. “That's the biggest change. Still takes a lot of effort for the transition and everything. But it's not as mentally draining, as stressful for me as it has been the last two years.”