The men’s game has seen some great returners over the years, such as Andre Agassi, David Ferrer, and David Nalbandian.
Perhaps none more so, however, than former world number one Andy Murray and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Murray and Djokovic, who partnered up at the beginning of the season, are arguably the two best returners the game has ever seen, both players having made a living out of nullifying big servers.
One of those big servers came in the form of former major finalist Milos Raonic, who fell to Murray in the 2016 Wimbledon final.
Raonic recently weighed in on the greatest of all time debate, and has now given his opinion on who the better returner was between Djokovic and Murray.
Milos Raonic picks who the better returner was between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray
When asked on the Changeover Podcast who the better returner of the ball was out of Djokovic and Murray, Raonic answered: “Novak.”
He explained: “Andy would do that whole two big steps coming into it, he would use your pace a lot.”
“I mean, we are not talking about big margins, we are not talking about the best returner of all time and a guy in the lower percentile in the top 100.”
“We are talking about the best returner of all time and another top-three returner. But Andy you could get a few more free ones, where he would chip it back.”
“Novak, the thing that would always make him, was I would watch so many matches, and it’s not like the return where he hits the return winner. But you look at the heat map of where the returns land and it’s like two metres from the baseline every time with Novak and right down the middle.”
“There was no return which took it up the line, just right down the middle, so even if you pull him wide and go the other way, to get the free point with the serve plus one, you feel like you need to play within a foot and a half of the sideline.”
“Players can play a foot and a half within the sideline but it’s very different when it’s 4-4, 30-30 and you’re serving and you need to hit it there, that all of a sudden feels like it’s six inches.”
Milos Raonic’s record against Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray
Raonic has never won a match against Djokovic, with their head-to-head currently 12-0 in favour of the Serb.
The Canadian’s latest clash with the current world number six came in 2021, where Djokovic knocked Raonic out of the Australian Open in the Round of 16.
Raonic has tallied four wins against Murray, the last of which came in their most recent clash, where he bettered the three-time Grand Slam champion in the fourth round of the 2020 Cincinnati Open.
He also picked up wins against the Briton at the Barcelona Open in 2012, at the Japan Open in 2012, and at Indian Wells in 2014.
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