Tennis: Injured Raonic out for French, Nadal back on top

Milos Raonic said he is withdrawing from the French Open with a “heavy heart.”

Canadian Milos Raonic pulled out of the upcoming French Open with an undisclosed injury.

“It is with a heavy heart that I am withdrawing from @rolandgarros,” Raonic tweeted, referring to the venue for the season’s second major, where qualifying starts Monday.

“I have many great memories there, but I know I need to continue working hard to put my- self in the best position when I step out on the court. Thank you all for your support and see you soon on the grass.”

He is the top-ranked Canadian on the ATP World Tour men’s singles rankings, rising two spots to No. 22 last Monday.

Raonic lost his last match to fellow Canadian Denis Shapovalov on May 10, in the third round of the Madrid Open.

Shapovalov will pass Raonic, now No. 22 in the world, when the next ATP rankings are released Monday.

Raonic didn’t play in the Italian Open, which wrapped up Sunday with Rafael Nadal right back where he wants to be heading into the Grand Slam event he’s won a record 10 times.

Nadal came out on top in a matchup of this year’s top two clay-court players, beating defending champion Alexander Zverev 6-1, 1-6, 6-3 in Sunday’s final in Rome to win a record eighth Italian Open title. Nadal will reclaim the No. 1 ranking from Roger Federer, who is sitting out the clay season..

Also Sunday, Elina Svitolina defended her women’s title, facing little resistance from world No. 1 Simona Halep in a 6-0, 6-4 win.

Halep had already secured the No. 1 ranking for another week by reaching the semifinals.

Svitolina, who has never made it beyond the quarter-finals at a major, was hesitant to predict anything for Paris.

“In a Grand Slam it’s very tricky,” she said, “but I’m definitely going to Roland Garros on a high note.”