Lacoste is a French apparel company founded in 1933 that sells high-end clothing, footwear, perfume, leather goods, watches, eyewear, and most famously tennis shirts. In recent years, Lacoste has introduced a home line of sheeting and towels. The company can be recognized by its green crocodile logo.^[1]

History[link]

René Lacoste founded La Chemise Lacoste in 1933 with André Gillier, the owner and president of the largest French knitwear manufacturing firm at the time. They began to produce the revolutionary tennis shirt Lacoste had designed and worn on the tennis courts with the crocodile logo embroidered on the chest. Although the company claims this as the first example of a brand name appearing on the outside of an article of clothing,^[2] the "Jantzen girl" logo appeared on the outside of Jantzen Knitting Mills' swimsuits as early as 1921.^[3] In addition to tennis shirts, Lacoste produced shirts for golf and sailing. In 1951, the company began to expand as it branched from "tennis white" and introduced color shirts. In 1952, the shirts were exported to the United States and advertised as "the status symbol of the competent sportsman," influencing the clothing choices of the upper-class. Lacoste was sold at Brooks Brothers until the late 1960s. It is still one of the most popular brands in the United States, sporting the "preppy wardrobe".

A Lacoste tennis shirt, from the 2006 spring collection

In 1963, Bernard Lacoste took over the management of the company from his father René. Significant company growth was seen under Bernard's management. When he became president, around 300,000 Lacoste products were sold annually. The Lacoste brand reached its height of popularity in the US during the late 1970s and became the signature 1980s "preppy" wardrobe item, even getting mentioned in Lisa Birnbach's Official Preppy Handbook of 1980. The company also began to introduce other products into their line including shorts, perfume, optical and sunglasses, tennis shoes, deck shoes, walking shoes, watches, and various leather goods.

In the United States in the 1970s and 1980s, Izod and Lacoste were often used interchangeably because starting in the 1950s, Izod produced clothing known as Izod Lacoste under license for sale in the U.S. This partnership ended in 1993 when Lacoste regained exclusive U.S. rights to distribute shirts under its own brand. In 1977, Le Tigre Clothing was founded in an attempt to directly compete with Lacoste in the US market, selling a similar array of apparel, but featuring a tiger in place of the signature Lacoste crocodile.

More recently, Lacoste's popularity has surged due to French designer Christophe Lemaire’s work to create a more modern, upscale look. In 2005, almost 50 million Lacoste products sold in over 110 countries. Its visibility has increased due to the contracts between Lacoste and several young tennis players, including American tennis stars Andy Roddick and John Isner, French rising young prospect Richard Gasquet, and Swiss Olympic gold medalist Stanislas Wawrinka. Lacoste has also begun to increase its presence in the golf world, where noted two time Masters Tournament champion José María Olazábal and Scottish golfer Colin Montgomerie have been seen sporting Lacoste shirts in tournaments.

Bernard Lacoste became seriously ill in early 2005, which led him to transfer the presidency of Lacoste to his younger brother and closest collaborator for many years, Michel Lacoste. Bernard died in Paris on March 21, 2006.

Lacoste licenses its trademark to various companies. Until recently Devanlay owned the exclusive worldwide clothing license, though today Lacoste Polo Shirts are also manufactured under licence in Thailand by ICC and also in China. Pentland Group has the exclusive worldwide license to produce Lacoste footwear, Procter & Gamble owns the exclusive worldwide license to produce fragrance, and CEMALAC holds the license to produce Lacoste bags and small leather goods.

In June 2007, Lacoste introduced their very first e-commerce site^[4] for the U.S. market.

Hayden Christensen is the face of the Challenge fragrance for men.

Brand management[link]

In the early '50s, Bernard Lacoste teamed up with David Crystal, who at the time owned Izod, to produce Izod Lacoste clothing. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was extremely popular with teenagers who called the shirts simply Izod. While the union was both profitable and popular, Izod Lacoste's parent company (David Crystal Co.) was saddled with debt from other business ventures. When attempts to separate Izod and Lacoste to create revenue did not alleviate the debt, Crystal sold his half of Lacoste back to the French and Izod was sold to Van Heusen.

However, starting in 2000, with the hiring of a new fashion designer Christophe Lemaire, Lacoste began to take over control of its brand name and logo, reigning in their branding arrangements. Currently Lacoste has once again returned to the elite status it held before a brand management crisis circa 1990.

Lacoste had a long standing dispute over the logo and clothing lines with Crocodile Garments. Crocodile Garments uses a crocodile logo that faces left while Lacoste uses one that faces right. The two fought for the logo rights in China, which ended in a commercial compromise. Crocodile Garments agreed to change its logo to have a tail which rises more or less vertically, skin which is much more scaly and bigger eyes.^[5]

Retailers of the brand[link]

Lacoste store in Vaňkovka, Brno

Lacoste operates a large number of Lacoste boutiques worldwide; located as concessions in leading department stores and also as independent venue stores. In the United Kingdom, Lacoste is available from many leading high-end shops including KJ Beckett and John Lewis Partnership. Likewise in the United States, the Lacoste brand can be found in stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Belk, Halls, and other independent retailers. In Canada, Lacoste is sold at Harry Rosen, its own boutiques, and other independent retailers. In Australia, it is sold at David Jones, and Myer.

As of June 2007, Lacoste's online presence allows Americans to purchase clothing and have items shipped directly to their doors. The online store offers sizes and options not found in brick and mortar stores, along with a large sale section.

Controversies[link]

Environmental Practices[link]

In July 2011, Lacoste - along with other major fashion and sportswear brands including Nike, Adidas and Abercrombie & Fitch - was the subject of a report by the environmental group Greenpeace entitled 'Dirty Laundry'. Lacoste is accused of working with suppliers in China who, according the findings of the report, contribute to the pollution of the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers. Samples taken from one facility belonging to the Youngor Group located on the Yangtze River Delta and another belonging to the Well Dyeing Factory Ltd. located on a tributary of the Pearl River Delta revealed the presence of hazardous and persistent hormone disruptor chemicals, including alkylphenols, perfluorinated compounds and perfluorooctane sulfonate.^[6]

Censorship of Palestinian Art[link]

In December 2011 Lacoste was accused of censoring the work of Palestinian artist Larissa Sansour. Sansour had initially been included on a shortlist of eight nominees for the prestigious Lacoste Elysee prize – a competition which had been organized by the Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland with Lacoste’s sponsorship. Sansour’s entry into the competition was entitled “Nation Estate” which involved a series of “dystopic sci-fi images based on Palestine’s admission to UNESCO”. In this work Sansour imagines the state contained within a single skyscraper, with each floor representing a replica of “lost cities” including Jerusalem, Ramallah and Sansour’s own hometown of Bethlehem.

A month before the selection jury was to meet to choose the winner, however, the Musée de l’Elysée informed Sansour that Lacoste had changed its mind about including her work in the competition and asked the Museum to remove her as a nominee citing her work to be “too pro-Palestinian”.

Sansour soon went public with her story and within 48 hours the Musée de l’Elysée came out in her support announcing, in a press release,^[7] that it had decided to suspend its relationship with Lacoste as a sponsor of this prize due to its insistence to exclude Sansour from the competition. The museum emphasized that its decision to end the competition was in line with the organization’s 25 years of commitment to artistic freedom.^[8]

Lacoste’s attempt to censor Sansour’s work led to widespread international negative media reports on the company’s actions and renewed discussions on the role of private sector companies in art sponsorships.^[9][10]

See also[link]

• Croc O' Shirt
• Crocodile Garments
• Izod
• Izod Lacoste
• Lacoste Essential (fragrance)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lacoste

• Official Website
• Official Facebook Page
• Official Twitter Account

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (August 2011)

Milos Raonic

Milos Raonic at the 2011 Australian Open
Country	Canada[1]
Residence	Thornhill, Ontario, Canada; Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain; Monte Carlo, Monaco[1]
Born	(1990-12-27) December 27, 1990 (age 21) Titograd, SR Montenegro, SFR Yugoslavia
Height	1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Turned pro	2008
Plays	Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Career prize money	$1,360,669
Singles
Career record	57-33 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	3
Highest ranking	No. 21 (May 14, 2012)
Current ranking	No. 22 (May 28, 2012)[2]
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian Open	4R (2011)
French Open	3R (2012)
Wimbledon	2R (2011)
US Open	1R (2010)
Doubles
Career record	6–9 (at ATP Tour level, Grand Slam level, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles	0
Highest ranking	No. 232 (June 13, 2011)
Last updated on: May 28, 2012.

Milos Raonic ( /ˈmiːloʊʃ ˈraʊnɪtʃ/ MEE-lohsh ROW-nich;^[3][4] Serbian^[5]: Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić [mîloʃ râonitɕ]; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player who lives in Thornhill, Ontario, Canada.^[1][6]

Born in what is now Podgorica, Montenegro, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of 3.^[6] He speaks his native Serbian and English.^[7] Raonic is Canada's highest ATP ranked male singles player since computer rankings began in 1973. He qualified for his first grand slam event at the 2010 U.S. Open. In 2011 he rose from World No. 152 to No. 37 in a month, after he reached the fourth round of the Australian Open and won his first ATP title at the 2011 SAP Open. Raonic, who prefers to play on hard courts, plays an all-court game but is most notable for his serve, which is powerful and accurate. Since late 2010 he has been coached by former Spanish pro player Galo Blanco in Barcelona.

Junior tennis career[link]

Raonic's first ITF-sanctioned junior tennis event was the qualifying draw for the Canadian ITF Group 4 Championships in October 2003, where he lost in the first round to fellow Canadian Kirill Sinitsyn 6–7, 3–6. His next junior circuit action was a year later at the Canadian ITF Championships 1 event, where he lost in the first round of the main draw 4–6, 4–6 to compatriot Peter Marrack. In doubles at the same event he and partner Sheharyar Wali, also Canadian, reached the second round.

He won his first ITF tournament singles match in October 2005, defeating compatriot Tony Dang in three sets before falling in the round of 16 to American Christopher Racz. In doubles, he and compatriot Mohammed Niaki reached the semi-finals. Two weeks later, at the Canadian ITF Grade 3 Championships, Raonic reached his first final, where he and partner Sinitsyn lost to Marrack and Peter Polansky. In singles he lost again to Marrack in the first round.

In April 2006, Raonic reached the later rounds in a singles event, defeating Marrack in straight sets in the quarter-finals at the 24th All-Canadian ITF Junior Championships before losing to Julien Gauthier in the semis. After reaching the second round in singles of the Canadian Junior Open (Grade 1) in August, he then won the 2006 U18 ITF World Ranking Event (Grade 4) in early October, defeating Gauthier in the final 6–4, 6–0. He also captured the doubles title partnering compatriot John Taylor.

Raonic reached the third round in singles at a Grade 1 junior event in November–December 2006, the Eddie Herr International Junior Tennis Championships. Two weeks later he lost the singles final of the Grade 4 Prince Cup and won the doubles. In 2007 he lost early in the Grade 2 and Grade 1 junior events he entered. Raonic did however reach the finals of the Grade 3 US Junior International Hard Court Championships in August and won both the Grade 3 2007 U18 ITF World Ranking Event and Grade 4 U18 ITF World Ranking Event 2 in October on home soil. He also won the doubles at these events, partnering compatriot Nathaniel Gery for both. In doubles, he also lost in the final of the Pan American Closed ITF Championships (Group B1) in early October, partnering American Waylon Chin.

In December 2007, Raonic qualified for the prestigious Orange Bowl Tennis Championships, a Grade A event. He went on to reach the third round where he lost to American Chase Buchanan 4–6 in the third. Raonic began 2008 with a bang in juniors, winning the Grade 1 Nottinghill ITF event doubles event, partnering American Bradley Klahn. He and Klahn the following week reached the second round of the Australian Open before winning the Grade 1 USTA International Spring Championships in March–April. At the USTA International Spring, Raonic reached the quarter-finals for the first time in singles at a Grade 1 event, losing to Klahn in straight sets.

Professional tennis career[link]

2007[link]

Raonic was given wild cards into three Tennis Canada and Banque Nationale sponsored ITF Futures events in March, held indoors in the Province of Quebec. At Hull he won his first ever singles match played, over World No. 687 Fabrice Martin 7–5, 2–6, 6–4. He lost in the next round to World No. 661 Patrick Schmolzer 3–6, 3–6. The following week he lost in the first round to No. 2 seed John Paul Frattero 6–7, 3–6. In doubles, at both events, Raonic partnered fellow junior Vasek Pospisil and lost in the first round. Then in Rock Forest he again reached the second round, going out to No. 1 seed, Davis Cup teammate, hometown favourite and future coach Fred Niemeyer. He and Niemeyer played doubles in Sherbrooke too and reached the semi-finals.

Raonic saw his first ATP Challenger Series action in the summer, receiving a further wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger. He lost to No. 5 seed Gary Lugassy in the first round handily 4–6, 0–6. He also played doubles with Lugassy but went out in the first round. Raonic ended the year ranked World No. 1386, in both singles and doubles.

2008[link]

Raonic was again a wild card entrant in singles in the Banque Nationale Futures events in Quebec in March, fairing far better this time. At Canada F1 in Gatineau, he and partner Milan Pokrajac, unseeded, won the doubles title, while in singles he lost to World No. 457 Michael Yani in the quarter-finals in three sets. The following week in Montreal Raonic and Pokrajac finished doubles runners-up and in singles Raonic went out in the second round. Then in Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Raonic reached his first tour finals in singles, winning four three-set matches to do so. In the final he lost 5–7, 6–7 to unseeded Italian Enrico Iannuzzi . In doubles, he and Pokrajac lost in the first round.

In late April, Raonic next competed in an ITF tour event, defeating compatriot Kirill Sinitsyn 6–2, 6–0 to qualify (as the No. 5 seed) for the main draw in singles at U.S.A. F9 in Vero Beach on outdoor clay. In the main draw he lost however in the first round to fellow qualifier American Marcus Fugate 1–6, 4–6. Raonic was a direct entrant into the main doubles draw, but he and partner Adam El Mihdawy lost in the first round. The following week at U.S.A. F10 in Orange Park, Florida, Raonic lost in the third round of singles qualifying despite being the No. 3 seed. He did not compete in any tour events next until July.

In July, Raonic, as a wild-card entrant, lost in the first round in singles of back-to-back Canadian held Challenger events, Granby and Moncton. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil reached the second round at Granby but lost in the first in Moncton. The following week he received a wild card in qualifying for the 2008 Rogers Cup and lost in the first round to World No. 203 Alexandre Kudryavtsev 3–6, 4–6.

The next tour action Raonic saw was in October in Japan. In Kashiwa at Japan F10 he lost in the first round to fellow unseeded player Hiroki Kondo 4–6, 2–6. In doubles he and partner Tadayuki Longhi reached the second round. The following week at Japan F11 in Tokyo, Raonic upset No. 2 seed Tatsuma Ito in three sets before falling to Thailand Davis Cupper Peerakiat Siriluethaiwattana in the second round. He did not play doubles.

Raonic competed his 2008 tour play as a wild card entrant in the Rimouski Challenger, where he lost in the first round to Jose De Armas after taking the first set. In doubles however, he and partner Vasek Pospisil teamed to capture their first Challenger title. The wild cards defeated the No. 2 seeds in the semis and the No. 3 seeded team of Kristian Pless and Michael Ryderstedt in the final 5–7, 6–4, 10–6. Raonic finished 2008 World No. 915 in singles and No. 513 in doubles. Following the 2008 season Raonic turned down an offer from the University of Virginia and turned pro signing on with the SFX agency.^[8]

2009[link]

Raonic began his year in mid-January attempting to qualify in singles for U.S.A. F1 in Boca Raton, Florida, losing in three sets in the qualifying round as the No. 13 seed. He qualified the following week for the main draw at U.S.A. F2 as the No. 12 seed, but lost in the first round of the main draw. Qualifying for singles allowed him to enter the doubles draw as a wild card—he and partner Kevin Botti reached the second round.

The next week at U.S.A. F3 in Plantation, Florida, Raonic again lost in singles in the qualifying round, this time as the No. 9 seed. After a week off, he qualified for Croatia F1, as the No. 11 seed. He then knocked off World No. 293 and No. 7 seed Jan Mertl, World No. 425 Ivaylo Traykov, and No. 606 Denis Matsukevich before falling to No. 8 seed Louk Sorensen in the semi-finals. In doubles he and compatriot Erik Chvojka, the No. 3 seeds, reached the second round. The following week the Canadian doubles duo reached the finals of Croatia F2; in singles, Roanic again qualified for the main draw and then reached the quarter-finals.

After a couple weeks off, Raonic captured his first tour singles title, Canada F2 in Montreal.^[9] Receiving a wild card from Tennis Canada to play in the main draw, Raonic faced no seeded players and two qualifiers—he defeated World No. 594 Gregoire Burquier in the final 6–3, 6–4. In doubles, he and Vasek Pospisil, the top seeds, reached the second round. The team then did one better the following week at Canada F3 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, reaching the semi-finals, again as the top seeds. In singles, Milos lost to Vasek in the quarter-finals in three close sets.

Two weeks later Raonic again qualified for the main draw at a Futures event, this time as the No. 4 seed at U.S.A. F7, and reached the quarter-finals. He and partner Philip Bester, as the No. 3 seeds, captured the doubles title, defeating the No. 1 seeds in the final, Lester Cook and Treat Conrad Huey. The following week in Little Rock, Arkansas, Milos qualified for the main draw as the No. 2 seed, but lost in the first round. He did not play doubles.

Raonic's next action was in June at Slovenia F2. For the first time he received a spot in the main draw of a singles tournament based solely on this ranking. He lost however in the first round, to No. 1 seed Pavol Cervenak 4–6, 2–6. In doubles, he and partner Aljaz Bedene lost in the second round. The following week at Slovenia F3 Milos again lost in the first round, this time to No. 3 seed Denis Molchanov . He and Molchanov teamed to win the doubles title however, the fourth tour doubles title of Raonic's career. The next week, Raonic reached the quarter-finals of Italy F15, on clay in Padova, while in doubles he and partner Marc Fornell-Mestrs reached the second round. He completed his European swing losing in the first round of Italy F16 in singles while reaching the semis in doubles, partnering with Stefano Valenti.

After two weeks off, Raonic resumed play at U.S.A. F16 in Pittsburgh, on clay. The No. 7 seed, he was upset in the second round by Rhyne Williams. In doubles he and partner Pospisil, the top seeds, lost in the semi-finals. The following week in Peoria, Illinois, the No. 6 seed Raonic reached the quarter-finals where he was upset by the unseeded Pospisil. He and Vasek captured the doubles title however, winning their final three matches handily. After a week off, Raonic once again received a wild card into the main draw of the Granby Challenger. He played World No. 262 to a first-set tie-break loss before succumbing in the second set 1–6. In doubles, he and Pospisil lost in a second-round tie-break to the No. 2 seeds Colin Fleming and Ken Skupski.

The following week Raonic was given a wild card into singles qualifying for the 2009 Rogers Cup, where he began by beating World No. 77 Teymuraz Gabashvili in three sets following up with a straight sets win over World No. 113 Michael Llodra in the qualifying round.^[10] In the main draw, he lost to World No. 10 Fernando Gonzalez in three sets. Raonic finished the match having served and returned better on first serves than his opponent, and having won more points in the match, 112 to 107.^[11] In the week following this result, he lost to Kittipong Wachiramanowong in three sets in the final of Thailand F1 and, with partner Nikolaus Moser, won the doubles title. Then playing just singles in the next two weeks, he won the title for Thailand F2 and reached the semis of Thailand F3 (l/Jamie Baker).

Raonic spent the autumn of 2009 playing on the American Challenger circuit, but with less success than he had in summer. He finished 2009 ranked World No. 373 in singles and No. 425 in doubles.

2010[link]

Raonic started the 2010 season with new coach, former teammate Frédéric Niemeyer.^[6] Raonic reached the semi-finals of three of his first five ITF Futures events in doubles, Great Britain F1, F2, partnering with Uladzimir Ignatik, and France F2 playing with Romain Jouan. He also won his doubles Davis Cup tie playing against Colombia with World No. 1 Daniel Nestor.^[12] He lost, however, both of his singles rubbers in Bogota.

In mid-April Raonic captured the Korea F2 singles title as the top seed, defeating No. 3 Hiroki Kondo in the final 6–1, 6–1. He did so without losing a set and by winning his first match without conceding a game, over World No. 668 Min-Hyoek Cho. In May he captured his second title in three weeks, dropping just one set in taking Korea F4. The following week he lost to No. 8 seed Tatsuma Ito in the first round of the 2010 Busan Open Challenger Tennis tournament. Despite the loss he saw his singles ranking reach a career high for the second time in two weeks, at World No. 303. Raonic reached a new career high singles ranking in late June, rising to World No. 276.

In July Raonic reached the singles finals of the 2010 Challenger Banque Nationale de Granby before falling to No. 1 seed Tobias Kamke 3–6, 6–7. This result saw Raonic's ranking go to yet another new career best World No. 209. The following week Raonic received a special exemption to appear in the main draw of the 2010 Odlum Brown Vancouver Open where he has lost to No. 7 seed Robert Kendrick in the first round 6–7, 4–6. Granted a wild card into the singles main draw of the 2010 Rogers Cup, Raonic lost in the first round to Victor Hănescu 4–6, 4–6. In doubles he and partner Vasek Pospisil had the privilege of playing against Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and winning 10–8 in the tie-break. It was first time that the World Nos. 1 and 2 had played together in a tour doubles match since Jimmy Connors and Arthur Ashe did so in 1976. Raonic and Pospisil lost in the second round, however.

Raonic at the 2010 US Open

Raonic qualified for the U.S. Open but lost his main draw first round match to Australia No. 3 and wild card entrant Carsten Ball. Two weekends later in the Davis cup, versus the Dominican Republic, Raonic won his singles match 9–7 in the fifth set over Victor Estrella, as Canada won the tie 5–0 to stay in the Americas Zone Group 1 for 2011.

After a week off, Milos qualified for the 2010 Proton Malaysian Open. He reached quarterfinals before losing to Igor Andreev. One week later, Raonic qualified for the 2010 Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championship. He lost to World No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the second round.^[13] Raonic competed well against Nadal, returning better on first serve in fact (winning 20% of points to Nadal's 14) while serving well on first serve (getting 67% of his first serves in play, winning 86% of those points). He had more chances to break point but experience and poise won out for the veteran as Nadal converted both of his only two break points and Raonic, none of his five.

The next two weeks playing in Asia, Tennis Canada hired Galo Blanco, who had worked with fellow Canadian player Steven Diez in Spain, on a two-week trial basis.^[14] (Niemeyer wished to step down and he and Blanco co-coached during this period.) Unseeded, Milos reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 Tashkent Challenger. After defeating No. 2 seed and Indian No. 1 Somdev Devvarman in the second round in straight sets, he was forced to retire with a sore shoulder trailing No. 5 seed Karol Beck. After a couple of weeks off, with Blanco now in charge, Raonic lost in the first round of qualifying for the 500 Series 2010 Valencia Open 500, to No. 2 seed Pablo Cuevas. It was turned out to be the last tour action he had for the year. Instead, he turned his attention to a six-week off-season training regiment in Barcelona, under the guidance of Blanco and trainer Tony Estalella, one that Blanco later described, during the 2011 Australian Open, as "amazing." ^[14]

Raonic ended 2010 ranked World No. 156 in singles and No. 349 in doubles.

Raonic serving at the 2011 Australian Open

2011[link]

Raonic started 2011 playing qualifying matches for the 2011 Aircel Chennai Open where he lost in the qualifying round against Édouard Roger-Vasselin. Next, he qualified for the 2011 Australian Open. He won his first round match against German Björn Phau in three sets, his first victory in a main draw Grand Slam match.^[15] In the second round he defeated No. 22 seed Michaël Llodra of France, again in three sets, becoming the first Canadian man in 10 years to reach the third round of a singles Grand Slam.^[16] He then knocked out the Russian World No. 10 Mikhail Youzhny in four sets to reach the fourth round, the first qualifier to make the 4th round of a Grand Slam since 1999.^[17] Playing his next match at the Hisense Arena, he fell to World No. 7 David Ferrer after he lost the last three sets, despite winning the first.^[18]

Despite the loss, Raonic received rave reviews for his performance at the Australian Open, such as when John McEnroe referred to Raonic as "the real deal" on Twitter,^[19] or the BBC's reference to Raonic as part of "a new generation".^[20] Martina Navratilova referred to Raonic as "a new star" saying that "the sky is the limit" for the young tennis player,^[21] and the Sydney Morning Herald referred to Raonic as a "future superstar".^[22]

On November 17, 2011, Raonic played an exhibition match against Pete Sampras, and won the match 7-6, 6-1. Sampras’s serve approached 200 km/h throughout the night, whereas Raonic regularly topped that mark and reached speeds up to 222 km/h.[54]

Two weeks later, Raonic began play at the SAP Open tournament. After upsetting No. 4 seed Xavier Malisse in the first round in two sets, he then beat James Blake, again in two sets.^[23] After beating Ričardas Berankis in the quarterfinal match 6–4, 7–6, he reached ATP tournament semifinals for the first time in his career. Raonic advanced to his first final of an ATP tournament when the No. 2 seed Gaël Monfils defaulted in the semifinals citing a wrist injury.^[24] In the final, Milos beat 1st seeded Fernando Verdasco 7–6, 7–6, winning his first ATP title, and became the first Canadian player to win an ATP singles tournament since Greg Rusedski in 1995 (before Rusedski started representing Great Britain).^[25]

Raonic received a wild card into the main singles draw of the following week's 2011 Regions Morgan Keegan Championships. Interestingly, he opened against Fernando Verdasco, the player he had just faced two days earlier, and prevailed again, this time in three sets. Milos next defeated Radek Štěpánek also in three sets, serving a career-high 38 aces in the process.^[26] After defeating qualifier Robert Kendrick in the quarter-finals, again losing the second set before prevailing, Raonic continued his unbeaten run, defeating No. 4 seed Mardy Fish in the semis, once again despite dropping the second set. He lost a closely contested final, however, to No. 1 seed and two-time Memphis champion Andy Roddick 6–7, 7–6, 5–7, with Roddick making a diving forehand to win break point, on his fifth championship point for the match.^[27] Raonic's performance in this tournament elevated him to yet another career high ranking of World No. 37, making him the highest-ranked Canadian male singles player in ATP Rankings history.^[28]

Raonic won both his singles Davis Cup rubbers against Mexico on clay as well as the doubles tie together with Vasek Pospisil to advance Canada to the second round.^[29]

He was given a wild card berth for the Indian Wells Masters 1000 tournament main draw,^[30] where he lost to Ryan Harrison in the third round after wins over Marsel İlhan and Mardy Fish in the first two rounds.

Raonic started the clay court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters tournament by winning over Michaël Llodra and Ernests Gulbis before falling to 4th seed and eventual finalist David Ferrer in the third round.^[31] After the tournament, Raonic rose to a new career-high ranking of 28, his first time in the top 30. It is also his 7th week in the top 50. He reached third round at the 2011 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell, and advanced to the semifinals at the 2011 Estoril Open (5th seeded there, he disposed of Igor Andreev in the first round, of João Sousa in the second round, and upset Gilles Simon in the quarterfinal before retiring due to a back injury against Fernando Verdasco 4–6 0–0).

On grass courts, Raonic's reached quarterfinals at the 2011 Gerry Weber Open by taking out both Pablo Andujar and Tobias Kamke in straight sets before losing to Philipp Petzschner in three. In doubles with partner Robin Hasse, he reached his first ATP World Tour doubles final. The pair lost to Rohan Bopanna and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi (the nicknamed "Indo-Pak Express") 9–11 in the deciding tie-break. At Wimbledon 31st seeded Milos advanced to the second round after disposing of Marc Gicquel. However in his second round match Raonic had to retire after winning 3 games in the first set due to injury.

Tennis Canada announced that Raonic underwent hip surgery. Raonic returned to action following the US Open, where he was defeated by Israel's Amir Weintraub in Canada's Davis Cup matchup. He reached the semifinals at 2011 If Stockholm Open (lost to Gaël Monfils).

2012[link]

On January 8, he won his second ATP title at the 2012 Aircel Chennai Open in Chennai, India, defeating Janko Tipsarević in the final, 6–7, 7–6, 7–6. Raonic did not drop serve during the tournament, becoming the first player to do so since Roger Federer at the 2008 Gerry Weber Open. Later in January, Raonic advanced to the third round of the 2012 Australian Open, disposing of Filippo Volandri of Italy and Philipp Petzschner of Germany. He was beaten by Lleyton Hewitt of Australia 1 set to 3 (6–4, 3–6, 6–7, 3–6) in 3 hours 6 minutes, after going to deuce (5) for the match point.

On February 19 in San Jose, California, Raonic won his third ATP title and second SAP Open in a row, defeating Denis Istomin, 7–6, 6–2.^[32]

The following week in Memphis, Raonic reached the final of the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships for the second straight year, losing to Jürgen Melzer, 5-7, 6-7.^[33]

In Indian Wells, Raonic reached the third round, before losing to eventual title winner Roger Federer in three sets, 7–6, 2–6, 4–6. He was one of only two opponents who forced Federer to a third set in this tournament.

In April, Raonic participated at Monte-Carlo Masters, but lost in the first round to Albert Montañés in three sets, 2–6, 6–3, 3–6. He reached semifinals at 2012 Barcelona Open Banco Sabadell by defeating world No.4 Andy Murray in straight sets in the quarter finals.

Equipment[link]

Raonic endorses the Wilson BLX Blade 98 and he uses LUXILON M2 Pro 1.25 16L Strings. He also endorses Lacoste clothing and wears SAP AG on his sleeve. ^[34]

Grand Slam performance timeline[link]

To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2012 Australian Open.

Awards[link]

2011 – ATP Newcomer of the Year

Colour commentating[link]

Raonic worked for Rogers Sportsnet as a colour analyst for their broadcast of the 2011 Rogers Cup. He said he enjoyed that experience quite a bit. ^[35]

Personal[link]

Raonic moved together with his family to Canada at the age of 3 from Titograd, Yugoslavia or what is now Podgorica, Montenegro.^[6] Raonic started playing tennis at the age of 8 at the Blackmore Tennis club in Richmond Hill, Ontario with coach, Casey Curtis.^[36] Growing up in the suburbs of Toronto, Ontario, Raonic stated how Canada is mostly a hockey country. He says he chose tennis because of its "individuality and [because he] felt [he] could train more alone and on a ball machine with [his] dad".^[37] His brother Momir, and sister Jelena, have moved back to Montenegro and Raonic says he visits his family there often.^[6] Raonic's uncle Branimir Gvozdenović used to be the Minister of Urbanism and Environmental Protection in the Government of Montenegro where he also performed the vice-prime minister duties.^[17][38] His parents live in Canada and are both engineers, his father Dusan holds a PhD in engineering and his mother Vesna has a masters degree in the same field, while his sister also has a masters degree.^[6] Raonic is fluent in two languages, speaking both Serbian and English.^[1] His three favourite sports teams are Real Madrid C.F., Toronto Raptors, and Toronto Maple Leafs.^[1][39]

In an interview after his third round win at the 2011 Australian Open it was questioned if he would follow in the footsteps of Greg Rusedski the last great Canadian tennis player who ended up playing for his second nationality in Great Britain. When asked if he would continue to play for Canada he replied "Yes".^[6] Raonic has shown a passion for Canada and the game of tennis in the country. This was displayed in an October, 2010 interview where he said of the matter that "I want to make a singles career, I enjoy it more and I want to make a difference in Canada with it. I feel if I were to achieve my goals it could make a great difference to the growth of tennis in Canada and help to produce more top players in the future."^[40]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Milos Raonic

• Milos Raonic at the Association of Tennis Professionals
• Milos Raonic at the International Tennis Federation
• Milos Raonic at the Davis Cup
• Milos Raonic on Twitter

Awards
Preceded by Tobias Kamke	ATP Newcomer of the Year 2011	Succeeded by Incumbent

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Canadian male singles tennis players as of May 28, 2012 1. Milos Raonic (22 ) · 2. Vasek Pospisil (101 1) · 3. Frank Dancevic (120 ) · 4. Peter Polansky (183 1) · 5. Érik Chvojka (238 1) 6. Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (260 3) · 7. Steven Diez (307 6) · 8. Filip Peliwo (572 2) · 9. Philip Bester (596 5) · 10. Milan Pokrajac (800 13)

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten Canadian male doubles tennis players as of May 28, 2012 1. Daniel Nestor (1 ) · 2. Adil Shamasdin (81 ) · 3. Vasek Pospisil (203 ) · 4. Pierre-Ludovic Duclos (255 5) · 5. Milos Raonic (262 2) 6. Érik Chvojka (315 9) · 7. Peter Polansky (444 6) · 8. Steven Diez (539 5) · 9. Milan Pokrajac (555 8) · 10. Kamil Pajkowski (618 93)

v t e Association of Tennis Professionals: Top ten male singles tennis players from the Americas as of May 28, 2012 1. Juan Martín del Potro (9 ) · 2. Mardy Fish (10 ) · 3. John Isner (11 ) · 4. Juan Mónaco (15 ) · 5. Milos Raonic (22 ) 6. Andy Roddick (33 4) · 7. Carlos Berlocq (37 ) · 8. David Nalbandian (40 ) · 9. Juan Ignacio Chela (44 1) · 10. Santiago Giraldo (50 1)

Harry Rosen

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (November 2008)

Harry Rosen, CM (born 1931) is the Founder and Executive Chairman of the Canadian luxury men's wear store Harry Rosen Inc.

Early life[link]

Born and raised in Toronto, Rosen lived for a short time in Callander, Ontario. As a teenager he found a job at a tailoring factory for men's clothes. There he learned about the making of clothing and, more importantly, about men's shopping habits.

After dropping out of high school he decided to open a men's clothing store.

Career[link]

With help from a family friend and connections in the cloth manufacturing business, he was able to open Harry Rosen Inc., on February 4, 1954 in Cabbagetown, Toronto, with his brother Lou.

In 1961, the store moved to Toronto's downtown core on Richmond Street. That year Stann Burkhoff, an advertising executive, came in to shop. Rosen and Burkhoff became friends and Burkhoff arranged to do some ads for the store in exchange for two suits - one for him and one for his art director. Together, they developed the 'Ask Harry' campaign. These ads ran in Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. It was so successful that people from across the country began coming to Harry Rosen.

Novel advertisements[link]

He has a long history of advertising in The Globe and Mail. One memorable ad features Rosen having just locked up his store for the evening, when he notices one of his window mannequins reading the Globe and Mail; Rosen is also carrying a copy in his arm while there is also one of the newspaper's vending boxes in the background of the street.

Upon spelling the name of Winnipeg wrong after opening the city's first store there, Rosen later took out an ad in the Winnipeg Free Press saying "I will not spell Winnipegger as "Winnippegger".

When the original main store was burned down, Rosen took out an ad which was almost mistaken for an Obituary.

Personal life[link]

Rosen has been married to his wife, Evelyn, for over 50 years. They have 4 children and 7 grandchildren. His eldest son, Larry, is the CEO of Harry Rosen Inc.

Philanthropy[link]

Rosen has been active in the Canadian Paraplegic Association, Corporate Fund for Breast Cancer, Cancer Care Fund, Mount Sinai Friends for Life Campaign, Ryerson University Board of Governors, George Brown Board of Governors, University of Western Ontario Board of Governors, Design Exchange and the United Jewish Appeal. He served a three year term as Campaign Chairman for the Canadian Cancer Society, Metropolitan Toronto.

In 2004, he served on the Mt. Sinai Board of Governors, Ryerson B.Com program in retailing advisory board and on the Cabinet of Major Individual Gifts for the United Way of Canada.

He appeared in a promotional campaign for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to promote services for those affected by addiction and mental health issues in the Toronto area.

In April 2010 he was honoured at a fundraising event for The University Health Network called "Hats Off To Harry" ^[1]

Awards[link]

• 1987 — Retail Marketer of the Year by the Retail Council of Canada
• 2001 — Retail Council of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2003 — Honorary Doctorate in Commerce, Ryerson University
• 2004 — Order of Canada.
• 2005 — the Pitti Immagine Uomo Award from the Italian fashion community

References[link]

External links[link]

• Harry Rosen Bio
• Harry Rosen Consulting
• Men's wear proved perfect fit for Rosen