Five Canadians made the 64-man Rogers Cup main draw.
Milos Raonic says bright northern lights are on the horizon.
More: Djokovic Off And Running At Rogers Cup
The 29th-ranked Canadian overpowered 10th-seeded David Goffin to reach the Toronto second round.
Asked to compare the state of the sport in Canada now compared to 2019, Raonic said player participation has grown, television exposure expanded and young talents like 2017 Rogers Cup semifinalist Denis Shapovalov and ultra-talented Felix Auger-Aliassime make this an exciting era for Canadian tennis.
"Numbers of participation have grown. There's TV deals that cover tennis matches," Raonic told the media in Toronto. "I think the first time Davis Cup was really covered on TV, if I remember correctly, was 2011 after I broke through. Rogers SportsNet picked that up.
"Shortly after, you know, other matches were starting to get picked up. I don't think there was a full-time contract in place. But if I did well in a tournament, the later stages were getting picked up. I don't know what the conditions were."
"Then it became a full-time thing where tennis, regardless, was being picked up," Raonic said. "And then also you have the sense of, you know, players are playing well. Players are coming close in tournaments and it's not one player, two players. It's a bunch. And there's a lot more bright things to see in the future as well, which is exciting."
Raonic's return to his home Masters 1000 tournament brings added responsibility.
The explosive Raonic says he's learned to embrace his role as home "baby sitter."
"I think the first few times I sort of dealt with it in the sense of a pressure," Raonic said. "I think I have learned to enjoy it a lot more and just to embrace it. I think, really, being on the court is the most enjoyable aspect of it.
"It's more the things sort of off the court and so forth that you get a lot more taking requests from everybody, having to manage people necessarily. I'm not good at babysitting people. So that's maybe the part that I wish I could forgo, but the rest I think is a fun pleasure."
Photo credit: Rob Newall/CameraSport