The booming serve that terrorized opponents for nearly two decades has finally been silenced. Milos Raonic, one of the most dominant servers in tennis history and a trailblazer for Canadian tennis, announced his retirement from professional tennis on January 11, 2026, bringing the curtain down on an 18-year career that reshaped the landscape of his nation's sporting identity.

The 35-year-old from Thornhill, Ontario, departs the sport with a resume that speaks to both individual brilliance and national significance. As the only Canadian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final, Raonic's historic run to the 2016 Wimbledon championship match remains a watershed moment for tennis in Canada. Though he fell to Andy Murray on that sun-soaked afternoon at the All England Club, the achievement opened doors and inspired a generation of players who would follow in his footsteps.

Raonic's weapon of choice was never a secret, yet it remained virtually unstoppable throughout his career. His serve, a thunderclap of precision and power, earned him the ninth spot on the all-time aces list with an astonishing 8,445 unreturnable deliveries. Perhaps even more remarkable is his record for the most aces in a best-of-three-set match: 47, a number that seems almost unfathomable in the modern game where return strategies have become increasingly sophisticated.

The numbers tell only part of the story. Eight ATP titles decorated a career that saw Raonic climb to world No. 3, a ranking that seemed impossible for a Canadian man when he first emerged on tour as a lanky teenager with an awkward motion and unlimited potential. He refined that potential into one of the most feared serves the sport has ever witnessed, a shot that routinely exceeded 150 miles per hour and left opponents guessing rather than reacting.

Yet like so many players blessed with powerful games, Raonic's career was marked by the cruel intersection of ambition and injury. His body, pushed to its limits by the torque required to generate such devastating pace, often rebelled. The final chapter proved particularly frustrating, as a shoulder injury sustained in 2025 prevented any hopes of a competitive comeback.

His last appearance on a professional court came at the 2024 Paris Olympics, representing Canada on the world stage one final time. It was a fitting bookend for a player who had always carried his nation's hopes with pride and purpose, even when the weight of expectation threatened to overwhelm.

The legacy Raonic leaves behind extends far beyond statistics. He demonstrated that Canadian players could compete at the highest levels of the sport, paving the way for the current generation of talent that has emerged from the Great White North. His dedication to his craft, his resilience through countless injury setbacks, and his unwavering professionalism set a standard that young players would do well to emulate.

As Raonic steps away from competitive tennis, he does so knowing that his impact on the sport will endure long after the echoes of his final serve have faded. Canadian tennis owes him a debt of gratitude, and the record books will forever bear witness to the remarkable career of one of the game's most distinctive champions.