During week one of the US Open, Canada’s Milos Raonic hammered 68 aces to reach the round of 16, where he’ll face Kei Nishikori Monday night. Canadian tennis fans and those who follow the ATP weren’t the only ones taking notice of Raonic, his serve, and, more important, his arm sleeve.
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Raonic has been wearing an arm sleeve since March, when he used it to keep a rash on his serving arm from being harmed by the sun. Now the big Canadian says he wears it for superstition mainly, but he says his team believes it might be helping him. "My team believes there's some kind of benefit from it," Raonic said. "And it actually picks up a lot of sweat."
Whatever the reason for Raonic’s sleeve, two things are certain: 1. He has achieved his best Grand Slam results with the sleeve and 2. The WTA’s top players are fascinated by it. Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Caroline Wozniacki have all taken to Twitter during the US Open to rave about the sleeve. That might have to do with the fact that this week’s edition of the sleeve has a cool design that caught the eye of Azarenka right away:
Serena Williams chimed in on Saturday, also wanting a piece of the action.
Raonic apparently is up for sharing (and we’re guessing he likes the attention).
And once again, Raonic was thrilled to hear from one of the WTA’s elite and eager to share.
Victoria Azarenka claims to have the inside track, but she needn’t worry. All she’ll have to do is, as Raonic says, “Believe in the Sleeve.”