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U.S. OPEN

September 2, 2015

Milos Raonic

New York, NY, USA

M. RAONIC/F. Verdasco

6-2, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. In any way are you surprised to have pulled that one out?
MILOS RAONIC: When I saw that I was able to hold serve, I guess I was always going to give myself some kind of a chance.

Q. How bad did you feel at some times?
MILOS RAONIC: There were sometimes doubts, should I keep going or not. The worst part was it was sort of getting worse and worse.

It is what it is. Deal with it and move on.

Q. (No microphone.)
MILOS RAONIC: They helped in that moment, but then it would go back and get back into sort of being blocked and hard to move. Then it would help, relax again, then go back again.

Q. It's been going on a few days or weeks already?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it's been something just since MontrÃ©al that I've been dealing with, before MontrÃ©al.

Been trying to sort of deal with it. It sort of flared up in matches. The weeks in between have been okay. Trying to get it under control as much as I can.

Q. So is it related to the foot injury?
MILOS RAONIC: From what I've spoken with people about, from physios to doctors, it's something completely different. It has no connection to the foot. That's a positive sign.

It's just really about trying to make the most of it.

Q. Do you like Grandstand? Anything about the atmosphere of that court that makes it unique?
MILOS RAONIC: I think it's great just because of the way the sound stays in, because the roof that comes over from Armstrong, you feel like people might sort of pack in on that side.

But when the court fills up, that noise sort of stays in and it feels a little bit more intimate.

Q. Are you surprised how many big shots you were able to hit?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, I was going for it. I knew what I was playing with. I just tried to make the most of what I could do during the match.

It allowed me to play a little bit more freely, but at the same time it's sort of the way I want to play. It's not always possible. I haven't played many matches.

Things are coming together.

Q. Able to pull it off against an opponent like Verdasco not being 100%, can you derive some positives out of that fact?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, it's a great thing regardless of who's on the other side of the court. That's the most important thing for me, considering I haven't played many matches, getting as many as I can.

That mental fortitude today is what has gotten me through, and it's what's going to give me a chance in my next match as well. I just have to keep plugging away and trying to be better and better each match. Those are the goals.

Hopefully I can give myself a lot of matches to play here.

Q. Long and hard battle for Mardy out here. He had a tough second round as well. Talk about a matchup with him.
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah, every time I've played him it's always been a difficult matchup. Not many rallies, but one guy always trying to dictate more than the other.

I'm going to have to play well. I'm going to have to be feeling better. But it is what it is. I've got, whatever it is, 48 hours or a little bit less. I can manage with that time.

Q. Do you remember the last time you played pain-free?
MILOS RAONIC: It's been a while. I'd say probably Australia time. But it's just a tennis player's life. We don't have substitutes or anything. I think there's always something nagging at you.

It's tiring. Sort of when you wake up every morning you're sort of asking yourself, Am I going to be better today? Sometimes you get positive signs from your body and sometimes you get disappointing signs.

I think that's the most tiring part, that sort of first moment when you turn out of bed and you have to ask yourself, Okay, am I in good shape today?

Q. Pretty pleased with the backhand today?
MILOS RAONIC: Yeah. It's sort of when I give myself that time, swing through it a little bit more, that's normally the ingredients that work for me.

I think it's something that I incorporate a lot more. Obviously I'd like to run around more backhands when I can because my forehand will always be my better shot, but it's making progress there.

Q. What did you do yesterday? What enabled you to play today?
MILOS RAONIC: A lot of treatment. A lot of treatment pretty much. A lot of sort of resting and icing. Just the basic things, I guess, to a little bit of a stronger degree.

Q. What will you do to prepare for Friday?
MILOS RAONIC: I believe I'll practice tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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