An Inspiration to Keep Going

My tennis career would always be very difficult and I would never be able to just cruise through on my talent alone. I would have to work hard at it and play as much as humanly possible to make my dream of being a professional tennis player a reality. There is now a player out there who went through the same struggles that I have and is now shooting up the tennis ranks the same way the likes of Rafael Nadal and Andy Roddick did in the past. He was born in Montenegro but moved to Canada when he was 4 so he started playing tennis in Canada and developed his whole career here. Of course I am going to be behind him in my development because he is doing this jump at 20 and my best hope is probably going to be around 23 or 24. His name is Milos Raonic and only recently Canadians are taking notice to this kid from thornhill and his amazing skill. It helps that he is 6 foot 6. It is not essential to be that tall like Andy Roddick is 6'2 and Rafael Nadal is only 6'0. Milos had many struggles through his development but managed to push through like I am trying to do. Tennis Canada ignored him through most of his teenage years meaning he had to develop on his own like I am trying to do. He finally moved to Montreal to train at the national tennis centre at the age of 18. I can’t move to Montreal but maybe at some point I could to try to speed up my development. My game is almost modeled after his obviously not as polished and precise but similar in many ways. he has a very lose and powerful serve his tops out at so far 152 miles per hour, mine is now up to at its highest 128 miles per hour and I have been told by tennis Canada coaches that I have one of the top 5 biggest serves in Ontario. So hopefully my serve can develop into what his is at some point. He plays with a lot of power of both sides with a punishing forehand and a surprisingly bog backhand.  I have been trying to develop to both of these things in my game I would say I have a very big weapon in my forehand but if someone gives me an easy backhand I will finish the point 9 times out of 10. Milos also has developed a very good transition game and goes from the baseline to the net very easily and with good footwork. He will finish the point at the net more often then not and I want to be able to do this. This is the spot I would say I am the farthest behind in because I am just starting to really work on my transition. I have started to serve and volley which works really well at my level because it puts tremendous pressure on your opponent and a lot of the players do not like to have that pressure. I watched Milos play in a tournament that I was also playing in and he won the tournament and I went out in the quarter finals and I had the privilege to watch him play and he walked through his matches not losing a set and only losing to games at most. I talked to him after I lost and he had watched the match and he said I had potential and that really keeps me going. He is as really nice guy and hopefully will be in the top 10 by the end of the year. Milos is a great Canadian tennis player and continues to get better and hopefully follow in his footsteps and maybe play along side him on a Davis cup team someday. You never know.