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Milos Raonic continued his impressive comeback on the ATP Tour, reaching the third round of the 2023 Canadian Open. Taking on Taro Daniel in the second round in Toronto on Thursday, the World No. 545 won 6-4, 6-3 to back up his first-round win over ninth seed Frances Tiafoe.
At his press conference, Raonic was asked if he was still in contact with seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe, who coached him for a brief period in 2016. The Canadian admitted that he spoke to McEnroe a weeks ago, adding that the American even checked in after his second-round win over Daniel.
At the same time, he added that he did not speak to any other pros before his comeback as he wanted to be sure by himself if he really wanted to return to action at the time he did.
"I actually spoke to John a few weeks -- well, maybe about a week ago. He kind of checked in. He checked in also after my match. I don't really speak to anybody before I came back. There was a lot of moments when I was getting ready, and I wasn't sure, A, if I would be able to, and, B, if I kind of necessarily wanted to," Milos Raonic said.
"So I kind of just did my own thing and tried to come back as quietly as possible. Tried to do no interviews, no nothing about it. Just kind of make my decision purely for myself," he added.
As for what he and John McEnroe talked about, Milos Raonic disclosed that tennis was the last thing they spoke about and that there were a lot of other interesting topics they discussed.
With the Laver Cup taking place in Vancouver this year, the 32-year-old joked about how he even tried to put pressure on McEnroe, Team World's captain at the event, to pick him as part of the squad.
"And I have spoken with him since, yeah. I have a good -- when we speak, we speak about a lot of things. Tennis is probably the last thing we speak about between each other. We get along on a lot of different topics, as well," Milos Raonic said.
"And, you know, maybe just put some pressure on him that it wouldn't be something that I would -- or it would be something I would like maybe to play the Laver Cup in Vancouver. Could be a nice thing," he added.
Milos Raonic to take on Mackenzie McDonald in third round of Canadian Open
Following his win over Taro Daniel, Milos Raonic takes on America's Mackenzie McDonald in the third round of the 2023 Canadian Open.
On how he plans to recover in time for the clash, the former World No. 3 said that he and his team hve a checklist with all the necessary things to do, incuding proper rest and physical therapy.
"We pretty much have a routine, a checklist that all the things I need to do. You know, you have to rest well, eat well, do the therapy I need to do with my team.
"And kind of just go through that to give my body the best chance to heal, and then give myself the best chance to compete and really leave it all out there tomorrow. And that way, I can have a chance," Milos Raonic said.
Meanwhile, McDonald has downed Aslan Karatsev and sixth seed Andrey Rublev, both in straight sets, to reach the third round.
