Raonic is fit to tie one on for Canada
At country’s service after back issue flared during ouster from U.S. Open
Milos Raonic was not going to miss another Davis Cup tie. Not if he could help it.
The Thornhill native will play in his first Davis Cup tie since 2015 when he takes the court against Thiemo de Bakker of the Netherlands on Friday afternoon at Coca-Cola Coliseum. He’ll be followed on to the court by Canada’s Denis Shapovalov and Robin Haase, who will play in the tie’s second rubber.
This tennis season has been hard physically on Raonic. He withdrew from the Monte Carlo Masters with a right-knee injury in April, then he had issues with the same leg in the Wimbledon quarterfinals as he lost to American John Isner. Most recently, he needed treatment on his back during his round of 16 loss to Isner at the U.S. Open last week.
Raonic recommitted to Tennis Canada that he would be playing against the Netherlands in Toronto as quickly as he could after the back issues flared up against Isner.
“As soon as I got cleared,” said Raonic on confirming his Davis Cup participation. “Pretty much the following 48 hours after the match with Isner, that everything was OK.”
Raonic is the top-ranked Ca- nadian on the ATP Tour, rising up to No. 20 worldwide after his performance at the U.S. Open. He’s missed every Davis Cup since 2015’s 3-2 win over Japan in Vancouver due to injury and his inclusion on the team has helped make it what many have touted as Canada’s best-ever Davis Cup entry.
Shapovalov, a 19-year-old phenom from Richmond Hill, is 34th in the ATP Tour’s singles rankings. Toronto’s Daniel Nestor and Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil will team up on Saturday in doubles, facing Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Rojer.
“(Haase) is definitely a tough match for me, Robin’s an incredible player, he’s been playing real well over the summer, he’s got some good wins under his belt a lot of confidence,” said Shapovalov, who lost to Haase in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Toronto last month. “It’s definitely not going to be easy, but at the same time I’ve had a really good summer as well.”
The singles matchups will flip on Sunday, with Raonic playing Haase and Shapovalov taking on de Bakker.
“It’s exciting. We’ve got two young guys here since I last played that have been playing incredibly well over the past 18 months or so,” said Raonic, gesturing to Shapovalov and 18year-old reserve Felix AugerAliassime at a news conference at Exhibition Place. “We’re all excited for this. We’re excited it’s here in downtown Toronto, as well.”
Haase is top Dutch player in the tie, ranked 44th in the world.
The winner of the tie will earn a spot in the qualification round to be played in February that will decide the countries that will compete in the final at the end of the season as part of a new Davis Cup format.