Novak Djokovic sent an emotional message to Milos Raonic as he announced his retirement on Sunday after nearly 18 years competing on the ATP Tour. The Canadian’s departure marks the end of an era for a player who reached as high as World No. 3 and became the first man from his nation to reach a Grand Slam final.
The announcement quickly resonated throughout the tennis community, prompting tributes from fellow competitors across the sport.
Novak Djokovic’s Emotional Tribute to Milos Raonic
The response to Raonic’s retirement announcement spread rapidly across social media platforms as current and former players offered their congratulations. Djokovic shared a story on Instagram featuring Raonic’s retirement announcement from TennisTV, adding his own heartwarming message.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion simply wrote, “Congrats on an amazing career, @mraonic 🙌🇨🇦,” highlighting the respect he had for the Canadian competitor throughout their years competing against each other on the tour.
Raonic announced his retirement through an Instagram post, featuring images from his childhood, his time on court, and his family, with an emotional message.
His fellow Canadian, Felix Auger-Aliassime, was among the first to share an emotional tribute on his Instagram story, calling Raonic “the Greatest Canadian to ever do it” and thanking him for serving as a mentor both on and off the court.
Bianca Andreescu, another Canadian tennis star, commented with “Canadian legend 🙌,” while American veteran John Isner wrote on the post, “Great career done with class and professionalism all the way through.”
These responses demonstrated the deep respect Raonic had built throughout his professional journey with his peers. Major tennis organizations, including the International Tennis Federation, the Davis Cup, and the BNP Paribas Open, also shared messages acknowledging his retirement and contributions to the sport.
Raonic’s Legendary Career and His Record Against Djokovic
The Canadian hangs his racket with eight ATP singles titles and a career record of 383 wins and 184 losses accumulated over his time on tour.
His breakthrough year came in 2016 when he finished ranked World No. 3, becoming the highest-ranked Canadian man in ATP history at that time. That same year proved to be his most successful as he captured multiple achievements across the tour and Grand Slam events.
Raonic made his most significant mark at Wimbledon when he reached the final in 2016, defeating Roger Federer in the semifinals with a dramatic five-set victory before losing to Andy Murray in the championship match.
He also advanced to the semifinals of the Australian Open that same year before suffering an adductor injury. Throughout his career, Raonic competed in four Masters 1000 finals.
When it came to their head-to-head matchups, Djokovic dominated the rivalry completely, maintaining a perfect 12-0 record against Raonic across all surfaces and tournament levels.
Notably, the Serbian beat the Canadian in three of his total four Masters 1000 finals, including the 2014 Paris Masters, the 2016 Indian Wells Masters, and the 2020 Cincinnati Masters.
Raonic’s final professional match came at the 2024 Paris Olympics when he lost to Dominik Koepfer 7-6(2), 6-7(5), 6-7(1) in the opening round.
