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NEW YORK — “Milos’s Minions”.
That’s what Milos Raonic called his entourage in an article written by Kristina Rutherford on the Sportsnet website before the Rogers Cup earlier this month in Toronto.
Raonic’s entourage doesn’t actually have a name, but Rutherford suggested they should come up with one.
“Milos’s Minions” is much better than “Team Milos,” which was his girlfriend Danielle Knudson’s suggestion.
When the Sportsnet article was written, there were 13 Minions — including a sports doctor, a fitness trainer, a cook, a security guard, a public-relations staffer and three coaches — but they could only get Raonic as far as the quarter-finals at the Rogers Cup, where the Canadian lost to Frenchman Gael Monfils.
Raonic has one less Minion at the U.S. Open after John McEnroe announced before the tournament that he would stop coaching the Canadian and instead focus on his TV analyst work with ESPN, leaving Raonic with only two coaches: Riccardo Piatti and Carlos Moya.
Raonic — No. 5 seed here — didn’t look like he was missing McEnroe during his first-round match Monday night on Court 17 against Germany’s Dustin Brown, rolling to a 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 straight-sets victory.
Raonic, who is ranked No. 6 in the world, was simply too good for Brown, who is ranked No. 86. Raonic served 15 aces, compared with only two for Brown, and was 15-1 in service games while breaking Brown four times.
“I was efficient at the end of the day,” Raonic said. “Three sets; not too much time on court. I would have wished to play better, but it’s not the goal to be playing my best tennis in the first round. It’s about getting through and giving myself a chance to get better in the next round. Hopefully my level continues to improve.”
A win is a win and Raonic moves one step closer to his goal of becoming the first Canadian to win a major Grand Slam singles title. Raonic, who is from Thornhill, Ont., came within one step of his goal last month when he advanced to the final at Wimbledon before losing to Andy Murray.
Up next for Raonic in the second round is American Ryan Harrison, who is ranked No. 120 but has a 1-1 career record against the Canadian, beating him in 2011 at Indian Wells Masters and losing to him the next year in San Jose. Both matches were on hard courts like the ones here. On Monday, Harrison beat Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, ranked No. 54, 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in their first-round match.
Raonic and Brown are both 6-foot5, but when it comes to appearances that’s all they have in common. Raonic was sporting a new close-cut haircut, while Brown has some impressive dreadlocks.
Raonic said in the Sportsnet story that he takes fashion tips from his model girlfriend, but hopefully Knudson didn’t suggest the bright pink New Balance running shoes he was wearing Monday night.
“The colour’s very pink and loud, but I like the outfit,” said Raonic, wearing dark blue shorts and a blue shirt with white stripes. “Definitely I think it was a colour (New Balance) wanted to work with. I like the sort of disconnectedness. That that’s sort of the focal point of the outfit. Then something more classic and more toned down for the rest of the outfit. I think it works nicely.”
As for his working relationship with McEnroe now, Raonic said: “Yeah, well, John, throughout these weeks, will not be helping me. We’ll see where it goes after that.
“I believe it was just too many things going on throughout this period of time. He felt like that was the right decision. At the end of the day, it’s a decision we’re both OK with. We spoke about it, were up front, and there’s no ill feelings.”
During an ESPN conference call before the U.S. Open, McEnroe didn’t rule out the possibility of coaching Raonic again. But whether McEnroe returns or not, there’s only one Minion that really matters.
His name is Milos.