Injured Raonic plans to face France

Although he is less than 100 per cent healthy, Milos Raonic intends to compete for Canada in their Davis Cup matches against France next month.

The first-round World Group tie will be played in Guadeloupe on March 4-6.

Raonic, the Thornhill native who is suffering from an injury to his hip and leg area, is being counted on against the powerful French, who boast four of the world’s top 20 singles players.

“The tie is 10 days from now and he’s got time to continue his healing process,” Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau said Tuesday on a conference call.

Raonic fought through the pain of the adductor injury during his run to the title at the Brisbane International, but the problem flared up at the Australian Open in January.

Raonic started having difficulty pushing off on his right leg midway through the third set of his semifinal loss to Andy Murray.

The world’s 13th-ranked singles player has resumed working out on the tennis court.

The six-foot-five Raonic performed a two-handed dunk in the NBA celebrity all-star game in Toronto earlier this month, but Laurendeau said it’s the side-to-side movements that are causing him problems. After withdrawing from two straight tournaments, Raonic is also feeling the competitive juices flowing through his patriotic pores.

“He wants to give himself that chance to represent Canada,” Laurendeau said.

“His frame of mind is still one of a competitor who wants in on the action. We’ll have to see over there what Milos can do.”

Raonic’s medical team will assess his status once the team gets to Guadeloupe, but Laurendeau said the best judge will be Raonic himself.

“He’s not 17, 18,” Laurendeau said. “He’s 25, so he knows his body the most. And he knows what he can do and can not do.”

Tour players are accustomed to playing with nagging injuries so the team will see if Raonic can play through it.

“Most guys on tour rarely play at 100 per cent,” the Davis Cup captain said.

“There’s going to be a lot of consultation and observation that will need to be done there.”

Raonic is 11-2 in singles since Canada returned to the World Group in 2012.

If Raonic can’t play, the Canadians can rely on a dependable player in Frank Dancevic, a 31-year-old veteran.

Dancevic has been a regular member of Canada’s Davis Cup team since 2002, missing just one year of competition with a back injury in 2008.

The rest of the team includes Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil, while Filip Peliwo and Adil Shamasdin form an extended squad of players.