LONDON (AP) — Milos Raonic has become a household name in tennis circles. Still, some people keep struggling to pronounce his name.
The big-serving Raonic has been living in Canada since his family left Montenegro when he was 3.
After advancing to the third round at Wimbledon for the first time Thursday with a straight-set victory over Jack Sock, Raonic was asked at a news conference about the proper way to pronounce his first and last names.
“Some people go up to me as Miles,” he said. “I don’t know how that one comes across. Just to not have to go through the explanation of in Serbian, the S with a little apostrophe, a little V on the top, that gives it the SH sound,” Raonic said.
“Maybe I make the mistake, but I always pronounce my last name the right way, the way my parents raised me to pronounce it. Sometimes I’ll get lazy and cheat with the Milos.”
For the record, his name is pronounced MIL-osh Rau-nitch.
Here’s a link to him pronouncing his name:
— By Samuel Petrequin — https://twitter.com/sampetrequin
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ARISTOCRACY FILLING THE ROYAL BOX
A Danish prince with an Australian wife and British near-royalty were among those in the Royal Box at Wimbledon on Thursday, sprinkled in with a knighted sports hero and the parents of the man with the most Grand Slam singles championships.
Crown Prince Frederik and his Tasmanian-born wife, Princess Mary, were the official royals. The ones with the British connections were sister and brother Pippa and James Middleton, whose sister Kate is married to Prince William, second in line to the British throne.
Steve Redgrave, a five-time gold medal-winning Olympic rower and who was knighted for his achievements, was there with his wife, Ann. Robbie and Lynette Federer, parents of Roger, who was playing the third match of the day on Centre Court, were there to watch their son continue his attempts to win an 18th major and a record eighth at the All England Club.
— By Dennis Passa — http://twitter.com/DennisPassa
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ONE DIRECTION CIRCUS: One Direction mania hit Wimbledon on Thursday as two members of the boy band — Niall Horan and Liam Payne — stopped by at the All England Club.
The two watched Heather Watson during her second-round defeat on Centre Court, and fans gathered around several gates trying to catch a glimpse of them.
Watson’s fellow British player Laura Robson, who is not playing at Wimbledon because of an injury, posted a picture of her and Horan on Tweeter showing off “Rally for Bally” wristbands in support of the late Elena Baltacha’s charity. Baltacha, a former top-ranked British player, died of cancer in May.
The band tweeted Robson with good luck and best wishes messages during last year’s tournament.
— By Samuel Petrequin — https://twitter.com/sampetrequin
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Wimbledon Watch follows tennis’ grass-court Grand Slam tournament in London as seen by journalists from The Associated Press. It will be updated throughout the day.
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