It has been a whirlwind winter for Canada's Milos Raonic, who is enjoying a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour.
He won his first tournament this month and made the final of another over the weekend. His success has made for a hectic schedule and a significant jump in his match load.
Raonic has also noticed the return of tendinitis in the area around his right shoulder. So rather than play through the pain, he's going to give his body a break and skip this week's tournament in Mexico.
Raonic underwent minor surgery last fall to repair a small tear in his right pectoral muscle. The hard-serving right-hander said he was back to 100 per cent less than two weeks later but still deals with tendinitis on occasion.
He described the pain progression as "five to 10 per cent more" over the last few days.
"I feel you have to stop with the injuries while you're ahead," Raonic said. "I've started off the year great, so I don't want to slow that down or risk that."
Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., said he's already played about two dozen matches this season, which is well ahead of his usual pace. He has felt the pain a little more often on his slice serve and backhand.
"It's not a terrible pain," Raonic said. "It's just really minute pain that I feel (on) maybe one or two more shots than I did the day before."
Raonic upset world No. 9 Fernando Verdasco of Spain in the final at San Jose and beat him again in the first round at Memphis. He made it to the final again before losing a three-set decision to eighth-ranked American Andy Roddick.
His recent success has seen him rocket to No. 37 in the world rankings, an incredible jump of well over 100 positions since the end of 2010.
Raonic said his life on tour has changed significantly over the last few months. The text messages and phone calls have been pouring in, he's getting more recognition in the locker-room and fans have been more supportive.
He said his opponents have more respect for him on court.
"You can really use this to your advantage if you start off matches strong," Raonic said. "It can sometimes help you a lot. There's a lot of matches, where if you play lower-ranked players, sometimes they tighten up in these moments just because they're thinking of the situation and have too much respect for the guy across the net.
"So this is something you build up and try to hold on to as much as possible because it can make a big difference."
Raonic said the break this week will serve him well as he prepares for the March 4-6 Davis Cup tie at Mexico and upcoming Masters 1000 events at Indian Wells and Miami.
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