Australian Open 2012 Results: Milos Raonic Still Needs Time to Find His Groove

Milos Raonic is still very young—21 to be exact—so there is still much room for the Canadian to grow. With his recent loss to Lleyton Hewitt at the 2012 Australian Open, fans are likely wondering why the No. 25-ranked player in the world continues to struggle at Slams.

Well, first of all, this is only his fifth Grand Slam that he has ever played in his young career. While he made some serious noise at last year's tournament while making the fourth round, his loss in the third round this year shouldn't be such a shock.

In the three other Slams he has played over his career, he hasn't made it past the second round.

There is no doubt that Raonic is an extremely talented player, but it is evident that he is still very raw.

I mean nobody was expecting him to drop like a fly to Hewitt. Everyone saw that as a cake walk, and it was going to be Novak Djokovic that was going to have a hard time taking him down.

Apparently, he just isn't ready for that level yet.

There is so much room for him to grow, and the sky is the limit. He has already been considered a potential future threat, even though he has never made any serious noise in these Slam events.

He has been playing well outside of these events, including a warm-up event in India just before the Open. He won that tournament, knocking off two players within the Top 10 in Nicolas Almagro and Janko Tipsarevic.

The ability is obviously there, but it seems as if the overwhelming moments of the Slam environment may be getting to him.

Once he can find his groove and be comfortable in these environments, he will be a serious threat in the second week of any Slam event.

This is a special player in the making, but he needs to continue to develop with the tour. It may happen at the French Open, or maybe it won't happen until next season, but you can be sure that he will be a favorite for years to come.

Losses to players like Hewitt will be a thing of the past.

Jeff Chase is a featured columnist for the Chicago Cubs and Arizona State football.