Raonic still top court story
Canadian ranked No. 3 in world after banner year; Juniors look promising
MONTREAL — Milos Raonic’s rise in world rankings and a foursome of promising juniors has the people charged with developing Canadian tennis talent in a cheery mood.
“We’re very proud of their performance this year,” Tennis Canada vice-president Louis Borfiga said Tuesday.
While there is disappointment in the women’s side, where Eugenie Bouchard of Westmount, Que., and Francoise Abanda of Montreal have been treading water, Raonic and junior boys Felix Auger-Aliassime of Montreal, Denis Shapovalov of Thornhill, Ont. and Benjamin Sigouin of Vancouver were on a roll in 2016.
Raonic, of Thornhill, emerged from the year — and five meetings with world No. 1 Andy Murray — with the third overall ranking, a career high and the best ever for a Canadian. The towering right-hander also became the first Canadian male to reach a grand slam final when he lost to Murray at Wimbledon in June.
Borfiga is convinced Raonic, who will turn 26 on Dec. 27, will win a grand slam event in the next two years.
Bouchard, a top-10 player in 2014, reached two tournament finals but ended the year ranked 46th. Francoise Abanda of Montreal, despite evident talent, languished at 172nd.
“I thought (Bouchard) would have a better ranking,” said Borfiga. “With Francoise, we’re always hoping she’ll have a better ranking but she’s young.’’
It was not a strong season for Canada’s second-best pro Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver, who slipped to the 133rd ranking, but Peter Polansky of North York, Ont. (135th) and Steven Diez of Toronto (166th) reached career highs. And 43-year-old Daniel Nestor of Toronto reached the Australian Open final with partner Radek Stepanek. The juniors had a brilliant season. Shapovalov won the Wimbledon boys singles title and reached the doubles final with Auger-Aliassime, then won his first three pro titles in Futures events as well as upsetting Australian star Nick Kyrgios at the Rogers Cup. Auger-Aliassime won the U.S. Open junior title after losing in the French Open boys final, while Sigouin jumped to 11th in world junior rankings.
On the women’s side, 16-year-old Bianca Andreescu of Toronto rose to ninth in junior rankings thanks to reaching the U.S. Open junior semifinals and she got her first pro wins in singles and doubles in Gatineau, Que.
Canada also kept its spot in the prestigious World Group in Davis Cup play for a sixth straight year. Next up is a tie against the British team led by Murray Feb. 3-5 in Ottawa.