'It was difficult to work': Famous tennis coach's one big prediction about Milos Raonic that never came true

Tennis coach Riccardo Piatti has named one player he thought was capable of ‘destroying’ the ‘Big Three’. The original ‘Big Three’ consisted the likes of Switzerland’s Roger Federer, Spain’s Rafael Nadal and Serbia’s Novak Djokovic. The three players dominated men’s tennis for good part of last three decades with each winning 20 or more Grand Slam titles.

Tennis coach Piatti, who has worked with the reigning world number one, Italy’s Jannik Sinner, in the past, recently spoke to Tennis Channel. The 66-year-old named one player whom he thought was capable of ‘destroying’ the original ‘Big Three’. The 66-year-old named Canada’s Milos Raonic as one who was capable of competing against the best but did not fulfil his potential because of fitness concerns.

"I really liked Milos [Raonic],” he said. “When I saw him, when I was coaching Richard Gasquet, when he arrived and started winning, I said [at that time] that this guy could beat the best. At that time, the best were Roger [Federer], Rafael [Nadal] and Novak [Djokovic]. He had a completely different game than them. He could have potentially destroyed them with his serve and his forehand. Milos was very intelligent. I said to myself that if I ever had the opportunity to coach him, the goal, of course was to make him number one. I was unlucky because he became world number three, we worked together for a while, but he was always injured. It was difficult to work for two or three years in the same way or to be consistent.”

Raonic started his professional career, but injuries have halted his progress. His best years came before 2017, when he suffered a serious injury. Raonic’s best performance came at Wimbledon in 2016, where he finished as the runner-up after losing to the former world number one Andy Murray in the final in straight sets with a score of 6–4, 7–6(7–3), 7–6(7–2). That year, Raonic rose to number three in the ATP rankings as well.