Tennis champ Milos Raonic is stepping out of Canada' Davis Cup team because of an ankle injury.
The Thornhill, Ontario native is ranked 11th in the world and said he hoped he would be ready to play when Canada plays its first-round tie against Japan today.
"Unfortunately I am pulling out of the Davis Cup this week. I came to Toyko believing my ankle would recover but it is not at a level where I feel I can compete or help my team. This decision was very difficult to make but I believe in the players on our team and that they can get us the win," Raonic said in a statement on Thursday. "With a team scenario the most important part this week is to come out with a team win and I believe this is the best way to do it."
It became clear in Melbourne that Raonic's ankle was bothering him in the second-round match against Victor Hanescu of Romania. At 4-5 in the first set, he called a medical timeout and had the physio adjust the taping on his ankle.
Raonic later said that he twisted his ankle during his first-round match against Daniel Gimeno-Traver, but that at the time, it wasn't an issue. After he lost to Grigor Dimitrov in the next round, he said his ankle wasn't the reason he lost.
Fellow Thornhill native Peter Polansky will replace Raonic in the team. Also on the team is Frank Dancevic of Niagra Falls, Ontario, Daniel Nestor of Toronto, and Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil.
None of the other players on the team are ranked as high as Raonic. Dancevic, ranked 119, and Polansky, 135, will play single matches against No. 18 Kei Nishikori and No. 140 Go Soeda.
In the doubles match, Pospisil and Nestor will face off against Yuichi Sugita and Yasutaka Uchiyama at the Ariake Coliseum. Pospisil may not even play in the match, as he is still recuperating from damage to a disc in his back, an injury he sustained in Chennai, India in his first tournament of the year.
Davis Cup captain Martin Laurendeau said in a press release from Tennis Canada:
"Obviously it is very disappointing that our two top singles players are not at 100% at the moment but that's part of life as an athlete. That is why this is a team event and this is why we prepare every single member of our team all week long to be ready to play. This situation is not new for Frank or Peter and both have come through big Davis Cup matches in the past. Our team has a great deal of confidence in their abilities and they have worked hard this week and are ready for the opportunity to go out there and help us try and win."
Canada reached the semifinals in the Davis Cup in 2013.
References: Yahoo Sports and Ottawa Citizen.
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