Milos Raonic has become Canada's highest-ranked tennis player ever.
The lanky 20-year-old who can hit 150 mph (240 kph) with his serve is soaring up the ATP rankings. He has jumped from No. 156 at the end of 2010 to No. 37 with a two-week run that included a win at San Jose and a three-set loss to Andy Roddick for the title in Memphis last weekend.
His recent success has him busy signing autographs, posing for photos and talking to reporters - not bad for a player who was laboring on the Challenger Tour a year ago.
Raonic knows he's doing something special after playing in just nine ATP events, but he's far from satisfied. He wants more. Much more.
''It's not by any means something to be happy with because I want to keep improving,'' Raonic said. ''That's not where my goal lies. I want to keep improving. I want to keep progressing and developing. I think I could do a lot more.''
The 6-foot-5, 195-pound Raonic moves smoothly on court and isn't afraid to go to the net. He also shows good touch, changing up speeds on his first serves, but able to power up as high as a 150-mph ace against Roddick showed.
He has such power Roddick backed up nearly to the court's edge to help him pick up the ball, and Raonic can hit the corners as well. Roddick called Raonic's serve one of the biggest he's seen.
''It won't surprise me if he's top 10 sooner rather than later,'' Roddick said.
Mardy Fish said he thinks the Canadian clearly is playing top 10-level tennis and called it scary to think of how much more Raonic can improve.
''From the waist down, he's as strong as I've ever seen anyone's legs,'' Fish said. ''His legs are twice the size of mine. He's full grown within his legs, and you could tell he's still got some growing into in his upper body and his face.''
Raonic credits his improvement this year to growing physically stronger and more mature.
''Being able to see matches the right way and see them clearly and not be panicking. It allows a lot more points to be fought for and more points to be played with an intention,'' Raonic said.
Off the court, he sticks to a strict routine.
After each match, he calls his father, grabs something healthy to eat and has the occasional massage to help his body recover. He also finds a good steak restaurant to load up on protein.
It's working.
Raonic's rise has been so swift his bio isn't in the tour's current media guide and whose country's tennis tradition is slim enough that Raonic's victory in San Jose made him the first Canadian to win an ATP title since Gregg Rusedski won in Seoul in April 1995.
It's why Raonic looked outside his own country for his tennis role model: American Pete Sampras.
''He was just so inspirational to me from the beginning,'' Raonic said. ''I started tennis late. He was at his prime when I started, and it was Sampras. At the beginning when you're young, you sort of do model. As you go through your career, you have to sort of find your own way to win and your own way to reach a successful point and to reach your goals.''
Born in Podgorica, Montenegro, Raonic's family relocated to Canada when he was three where Thornhill, Ontario, now is home. He took up tennis at the age of nine and improved quickly. He was Canada's under-18 national indoor champ in 2008 and turned pro in 2009. He reached the quarterfinals in Kuala Lampur and his first Challenger singles final last July.
None of that success even hinted at how Raunic would start 2011.
He qualified at the Australian Open and got as far as the fourth round. He also qualified in Johannesburg, where he reached the second round. He took off in San Jose, losing his serve only once in four matches while banging out a tournament-best 58 aces. He capped his first ATP title by beating Fernando Verdasco, the world's ninth-ranked player, in straight sets.
It was then on to Memphis, where Roddick broke him to win the title - though Raonic just missed forcing a third tiebreaker in the match.
Now that he's playing on bigger courts and getting recognized more both by fans and fellow players in the locker room.
''It's a lot more joy to be noticed.''
In a sign of how mature he already is, Raonic decided not to push his luck. He withdrew from Acapulco this week after feeling soreness in his shoulder, saying he didn't want to risk a serious injury with how well he is playing. He plans to rest before preparing for Canada's upcoming Davis Cup matches with Mexico, which will be televised back in his hockey-crazed country.
''There's a lot more to look forward to,'' he said.
