Indian Wells 2019: Milos Raonic Spotted with a Surprise Partner

Canadian tennis player Milos Raonic has been attempting a comeback since his injury in 2017. His last tournament was the Dubati Duty Free Tennis Championships. Sadly, he was downed in the Round of 32 in three sets to Jan-Lennard Struff.

The 28-year old had a truly impressive run in the 2019 Australian Open, getting as high as the quarterfinals. The dream run ended when he was knocked out by Lucas Pouille, who would later go out in the semifinals, at the hands of Novak Djokovic. Along the way, prior to his loss, he managed to oust Nick Kyrgios, Stan Wawrinka, Pierre Hugues-Herbert and Alexander Zverev. Aside from Wawrinka, who he took out in 4 sets, he registered straight set  wins over the others.

Coming to Indian Wells, he won a warmup event, namely the Eisenhower Cup, a charity event. In the actual tournament, his status for singles is unknown at the moment, but he will be partnering Jeremy Chardy in the doubles event. He and Chardy are set to face Novak Djokovic and Fabio Fognini up first.

However, it has now transpired that the Canadian has officially parted ways with coach Goran Ivansevic. Some sources have spotted Raonic working alongside Fabrice Santoro.

Santoro was nicknamed “The Magician” after beating Pete Sampras at Indian Wells. The Frenchman is known to be a real technical player who plays with a two-handed backhand and forehand.

One interesting fact about the 46-year old is that in the singles format, Santoro defeated 18 players who were ranked world no. 1 at some point in their careers. His list of victims include,  Novak Djokovic, Jimmy Connors, Mats Wilander, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Jim Courier, Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Thomas Muster, Marcelo Ríos, Gustavo Kuerten, Carlos Moyá, Pat Rafter, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick, and Roger Federer.

With regard to how far he will go in Indian Wells, he has a bye in the first round but will likely face American player Sam Querrey in the second round. Coming to how the rest of the 2019 season will pan out for him, it all remains to be seen.