Former world number three Milos Raonic has announced his retirement from professional tennis at the age of 35, bringing the curtain down on a career that spanned more than 15 years on the ATP Tour.

The Canadian, renowned for his thunderous serve that earned him the nickname “Missile,” won eight ATP titles and accumulated more than $20 million in prize money during his time on the circuit. Raonic reached the peak of his career in 2016, when he advanced to the semi-finals of the Australian Open and contested the Wimbledon final, losing to Andy Murray on both occasions.

“This is a moment you know will come one day, but somehow you never feel ready for it,” Raonic wrote in a statement shared on social media platform X. “This is as ready as I will ever be. Tennis has been my love and obsession for most of my life.

“I have been the luckiest person to live out and fulfil my dreams. I got to show up every day and focus on getting better, and see where that would take me.”

Born in the former Yugoslavia during the country’s violent breakup in the early 1990s, Raonic moved to Canada with his family at the age of three. He turned professional in 2008 and claimed his maiden ATP title at the Pacific Coast Championships in 2011, defeating Fernando Verdasco in the final.

Raonic went on to contest four Masters 1000 finals between 2013 and 2020, finishing runner-up on each occasion — first to Rafael Nadal at the Canadian Open and three times to Novak Djokovic. His defeat to Djokovic at the 2020 Cincinnati Masters marked his final appearance in an ATP final.

His last tour-level match came at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he was eliminated in the first round by Germany’s Dominik Koepfer.

Looking ahead, Raonic made it clear retirement will not slow him down.

“What’s next? I won’t be slowing down,” he added. “There is so much more life to live, and I am just as motivated and hungry as I was in 2011, when I first broke through on tour.”