Milos Raonic came back to tennis earlier this year and it was an interesting experience for him that didn't go smoothly.
The Canadian spent a lot of time away from the game after dealing with multiple injuries. He's had quite a few of those in his career, and for a while, he was basically retired in all but name.
He never formally retired but hadn't much hope of returning to the sport, let alone to the top where he once was. That changed after a while as he saw a chance to attempt a comeback, and he took it.
It was a slow process with many bumps along the road, but he did it. The comeback came earlier this year and came out of nowhere.
There was no talk and no indication about it, so it was good to hear him speak about it at length during a recent episode of the Match Point Canada podcast.
There was a bit of a sour taste about just coming back right away first week in Hertogenbosch getting hurt, then kind of managing that. Obviously, I had a few setbacks, but it was also unrealistic. It was hopeful, but not the most realistic thing, like everything's gonna just go smoothly after such a long period of time away.
As Raonic explained in the interview, it didn't go smoothly. It didn't look smooth on the court either, as it was apparent that some things were going on.
Eventually, he found himself playing well back home in Canada. It was him simply adjusting to the new situation and we'll see what that looks like in 2024.
So, I had to deal with certain things, but all of them were very manageable And I was able hopefully to do all the right things and make all the right adjustments that can lead me to let's say some more smoother times with those difficulties, not having the same things come up again that I can go out there.
He'll begin his season in Kooyong in Melbourne and then play the Australian Open. We'll see how that goes and how he plays after that.