Understood

Milos Raonic will play for his country.

But his career comes first. His health, as well.

The good thing is that while you may agree or disagree with the tennis star's priorities, at least they are now crystal clear.

UPDATE: Raonic will get a chance at his third career title on Sunday in San Jose after hammering Ryan Harrison of the U.S. today in the semifinals of the SAP Open. This is where Raonic captured his first ATP title last year, and after his 7-6, 6-2 triumph today over Harrison, he'll face either Julien Benneteau of France - who he trounced in three sets in Davis Cup action last weekend - or Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan in the final.

Raonic pounded out another 20 aces today against Harrison, who had beaten Raonic in their only previous meeting in Indian Wells last year. 

Raonic has fallen to No. 32 in the world despite winning in Chennai this year and getting to the third round of the Australian Open. Defending these ATP points in San Jose with at the very least an appearance in the final will go a long way to improving his ranking.

So he's healthy. That, naturally, will cause some to smart, or at least question why Raonic coudn't play on Sunday but he was fine on Wednesday. As a country that has had this patriotic debate many times with many different athletes - Mario Lemieux, Greg Rusedski, Owen Hargreaves, Lennox Lewis, Ray Bourque, Steve Nash etc., etc. - this one will conjure up similar heated opinions.

Clearly, Raonic could have played in the do-or-die fourth rubber against France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He could have gritted his teeth, played through the pain and put it all on the line.

He didn't. He let Frank Dancevic play instead, undoubtedly disappointing to Tennis Canada execs.

We all would have liked him to play. In that way, not playing was a very mature decision. He could have given in to the pressure and played, and in so doing jeopardized his ability to play in San Jose this week and beyond.

But after missing fourth months of competition - and paycheques - last year, he doesn't want to go through that again.

In fact, Raonic told Tennis.com that had it not been for a misdiagnosis after an MRI, he would have played against Tsonga.

“After we lost to (The French in doubles on Saturday) I went to have an echography [in Vancouver] and I was told I had four-millimeter tear in the tendon and it was month-long recovery," he said. "I was told that if I played on Sunday it could completely snap and I’d be out for eight to 12 months. So it was a no-brainer not to play. So I spoke to my doctor in Spain and I came here because I knew the services were really good at the Stanford Medical Clinic. I did an MRI and I was told it was just misplaced fluid instead of a tear and it was just showing tendonitis and I could play through, it won’t get any worse. It was little a disheartening because I was in the dark and I wish I could have played. If I knew I wasn’t taking a risk, I would have played Tsonga. I was sore, but I knew if I could take a pain killer, I could probably have played through the pain."

So let's not paint this kid as an ingrate. He has answered the bell for Davis Cup a number of times, and even came back a little early from hip surgery last September to play in a Davis Cup tie against Israel. He'll almost certainly play for Canada this summer in the London Olympics.

It's not that he won't play for Canada. It's just going to have to be on his terms, and as long as Canadian tennis suffers from a lack of depth and Raonic remains far and away our best player, he's calling the shots.

He has a good working relationship with Tennis Canada, but he brings his own coach - Galo Blanco - and his own agent - Graham Cross - with him when he competes for Canada. It's a different setup than other sports, but tennis is different. These players are independent contractors who give up their time in the middle of grinding tour schedule to play, and there's just no point slagging them when they make other choices.

He's by far the best player this country has produced, and he has worn the country's colours in Davis Cup competition three times in the past 14 months, travelling from Mexico to Israel to Vancouver to play for Tennis Canada.

At the same time, he's trying to progress in the ATP world rankings, and there are more than a few who would rather see him become a top 10 player and win a Grand Slam rather than help Canada become a better Davis Cup country.

He's got his priorities. Maybe you wish they were different, that he'd play for Canada even if it jeopardized his career. But at least there's no confusion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[ile]

I think people need to lay off Milos a bit, hes a young kid, only recently begun tearing up on the world stage...besides hes suffered through a hip injury- any athlete knows how critical and dangerous even the slightest injuries can be...just look at crosby!
as well, canada should appreciate the fact milos chose to play for them and not montenegro (even though he has lived here for the majority of his life)
People in montenegro are extremely proud of him and although they would rather have him play for his country of origin, they fully support his decision to represent canada

[Geoff]

Good for him. Kid has to make a living. What does Tennis Canada pay him? And before people say "why does it have to be about the money?" Tennis is his job, full-time.

[Liz McLeod]

Who are you? He is young and is taking control of his career which he has every right to do without people questioning his motives. If he is unsure about a possible injury, he needs to be cautious.
I think it was a smart move in the grander scheme of things... Monfils who decided to play at Davis Cup after all is now out of the same ATP tournament with knee problems.
Have you played professional tennis? I didn't think so.

[Dawn Mulcahy]

I really have to ask what you have against Milos - which tennis star do you know who would play Davis Cup if there was a chance of injury? At least Milos was there and gave us a very entertaining match on Friday. The number of athletes who did not play for their countries in no way diminished the quality of the tennis. Did you see any of the Great Britain/Slovakia rubbers. Dan Evans played like a hero for Britain and clinched the tie for them in the absence of Andy Murray. Nadal and Djokovic were missing. Personally, I think Frank Dancevic played a very exciting game that had the crowd delighted, and I think you diminish that match with your carping on about Milos. Give the guy a break!

[Stanislav the Sad Bureaucrat]

Raonic may not have a tear in his tendon, but there is certainly a debilitating one in your argument. As you acknowledge, Milos didn't play the Tsonga match because of the misdiagnosis of his condition. Had he known that the problem with his knee was just misplaced fluid, he says he would have played. And if he did in fact have a tendon tear, he would have taken a month off and skipped San Jose. This reveals very little, if anything, about his priorities

[Mark]

The guy's basically self employed and will be retired by his early thirties.

Anyone who thinks him putting his health and career first is bad is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of line.

[Adam]

Agreed with stan the bureaucrat. Cox's argument is completely faulty. Raonic's choice had little to do with his priorities and everything to do with the misdiagnosis. Shame on you for slandering the kid like that. An apology should be forthcoming.

[80s Leafs]

Did any of you slagging Cox read the full story?? He states this approx 10 paragraphs into the piece:

"So let's not paint this kid as an ingrate. He has answered the bell for Davis Cup a number of times, and even came back a little early from hip surgery last September to play in a Davis Cup tie against Israel. He'll almost certainly play for Canada this summer in the London Olympics."

Milos is an honest kid, so far doesn't dodge the media, and he explained why he didn't finish the Davis Cup the other day. I was disappointed in him up until just now reading that explanation.

[Ana]

Dawn asks, "which tennis star do you know who would play Davis Cup if there was a chance of injury?" There's actually an answer to that which doesn't disprove her point. Last fall, without enough time to recover after a grueling US Open, Novak Djokovic played in the Davis Cup semi-finals against Argentina. He felt he had to: his team was down, 1-2, and playing in front of the home crowd for a chance to repeat in the finals.

And what happened? He seriously aggravated his injuries from the US hard-court season, partially tore a rib muscle, and was forced to sit out the next 6 weeks of action. When he returned for the final tournaments of the season, it was clear that he was not yet fully recovered. His near-perfect season ended with a whimper. Is there any doubt if, given a "do over," Djokovic would make a different decision re: Davis Cup? While it would have disappointed thousands--if not millions--of fans, it certainly would have been the best move.

So, yes, it's unfortunate that Milos got misdiagnosed and that his decision thus looks selfish. But, really, what other sensible choice did he have?

[DamienCox]

Damien here. . .generally don't interject here, figure its the chance of the reader to have his or her say. . .but do get weary of people apparently intentionally misreading what I write. . .in the case of this Raonic story, READ THE 12TH PARAGRAPH. It says let's NOT paint this kid as an ingrate, and try to understand the tricky choices he has to make. How some could use this blog to somehow suggest I'm ripping the kid is hard to believe. Unless they're doing it intentionally. Annoying as hell sometimes. . .Have a nice day.