A week before the Australian Open main draw starts, former Melbourne semi-finalist Milos Raonic has announced his retirement from tennis with immediate effect
Milos Raonic has confirmed his retirement from professional tennis two years on from his final match. The 2016 Wimbledon finalist suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in 2024, having battled calf and leg problems throughout the latter stages of his playing days.
Raonic also resorted to adopting extreme diets to get ready for events. Most notably, he lost three stone in a month before Wimbledon in 2023 by eating just a single steak a day.
The 35-year-old Canadian remains the highest-ranked player from his nation in ATP history, having climbed to a career-high world No. 3 ranking in November 2016, behind only Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. Regarded as one of the finest servers of the Open era, he secured eight ATP Tour titles but fell short in his sole Grand Slam final against Murray.
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In a statement posted across his social media platforms, Raonic wrote: “The time has come, I am retiring from tennis. This is a moment you know will come one day, but somehow you never feel ready for it. This is as ready as I will ever be. Tennis has been my love and obsession for most of my life.
“I have been the luckiest person to get to live out and fulfil my dreams. I got to show up every day and focus on just getting better, seeing where that will take me, and playing a game I was introduced to at 8 years old by complete luck. Somehow, this became my entire obsession and childhood, and then became my profession and life.
“I am thankful for the incredible fans I got to compete and practice in front of all over the world. They got to see me shining at my brightest and managing the hardest of moments on the court. They got to see me grow up. Thank you to each and every one who stopped, even for a moment, to watch and support me.
“Thank you to my coaches and team, who took time away from their families and homes to be on the road with me as I pursue my dream and goals. I am grateful for your guidance and teachings.
“Thank you to the ATP Tour, the ITF, and all the Grand Slams. I dreamt of playing at your great tournaments, and I got to have those amazing experiences surrounded by great people, trying their best for the beautiful game of tennis.
“Thank you to all my colleagues and opponents. I looked up to you growing up, I looked up to you throughout my career, and I will continue to look up to you as a fan. I became the best player I could be, I am a better person, and I learned a lot of life’s most important lessons thanks to the challenges of competing with you all week in and week out for more than two decades.
“Thank you to Canada. My family and I came over more than 30 years ago. Thanks to you, I pursued tennis, thanks to you, it changed my family’s life, and I enjoyed every moment of the opportunity to represent you all around the world.
“Mom, Dad, Jelena, and Momir, I am so incredibly thankful that you all put aside your lives at many moments for me to have a chance to chase a dream. It was only possible of becoming a reality thanks to you. None of this is possible without the consistent effort and emotional support you put into my dreams. As lucky as I am to have found tennis, it pales in comparison to how lucky I am to have you as my parents, sister, and brother. I hope to make my wife and son proud every day and I hope I can be the kind of family for them as mine was for me.
“A big part of my tennis journey has been the incredible people I have been fortunate to meet all over the world. On many occasions, they have been wonderful mentors who have given me the time and guidance to figure out the rest of my life. I am thankful to them for making the burden of many of my life’s most important questions a little easier. Their care and time have made this process much clearer and inspiring.
“What’s next? I won’t be slowing down. There is so much more life to live, and I am as motivated and hungry as I was in 2011, when I broke through on tour. I will put the same effort and intensity into the next thing. If I can pursue the same excellence as I did with my tennis, just trying to be better every day, and let’s see where it takes me.”
