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Tennis Canada announced that Milos Raonic (Thornhill, Ont.) will not be participating in Canada’s Davis Cup tie against Ecuador, scheduled for July 8-10 in Guayaquil. Canada’s four-person roster will be Philip Bester (Vancouver, BC), Daniel Nestor (Toronto), Peter Polansky (Thornhill, Ont.) and Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC).
“There was always a five-player contingency travelling to Ecuador,” said team captain, Martin Laurendeau. “Now with Milos out, Bester, Nestor, Polansky and Pospisil will represent our country. Just like any other tie in South America that we’ve played, we know this will be a challenge but the guys are all ready to do their best to help us win.”
Raonic is unable to compete due to a hip injury sustained on June 22 during his second round match at Wimbledon. He is still undergoing medical examinations to determine the severity of the injury.
“No decisions have been made with regard to Milos’ treatment,” said Michael Downey, President and CEO of Tennis Canada. “As we head into Canada Day weekend, we encourage tennis fans from coast to coast to rally behind our country’s Davis Cup team as they prepare to compete for a chance to advance to the World Group playoffs.”
This tie will mark the seventh meeting between the two countries. Ecuador has won five ties compared to Canada’s one. The last tie between the teams finished 3-2 in Ecuador’s favour in 2009 at Rexall Centre in Toronto. The winning team this time around will play for a spot in the World Group in September in a playoff tie. Tom Tebbutt will be on location in Ecuador and will serve as official blogger for the tie. Fans can read his analysis and follow the tie on Tennis Canada’s official website: www.LoveMeansNothing.ca.
Davis Cup by BNP Paribas match schedule for Canada vs. Ecuador
(Eastern time)
Friday, July 8, 2011 4 p.m. Singles
Saturday, July 9, 2011 8 p.m. Doubles
Sunday, July 10, 2011 4 p.m. Singles
About Davis Cup by BNP Paribas
The Davis Cup by BNP Paribas is the largest annual international team sport competition in the world. A total of 133 nations entered Davis Cup in 2010 while only 16 countries qualify for the elite World Group each year. At other levels, the Davis Cup nations compete in Zonal Competitions, which are split into three zones: the Americas Zone, the Asia/Oceania Zone and the Europe/Africa Zone. In each zone there are four groups, Group I being the highest and Group IV the lowest. More information is available at www.daviscup.com.
About Tennis Canada
Founded in 1890, Tennis Canada is a non-profit, national sport association responsible for leading the growth, promotion and showcasing of tennis in Canada. Tennis Canada owns and operates two of the premier events on the ATP and WTA Tours; Rogers Cup presented by National Bank mworld en’s and women’s events that rotate annually between Rexall Centre in Toronto and Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. In addition, Tennis Canada owns and operates seven professional ITF sanctioned events and financially supports seven other professional tournaments in Canada. Tennis Canada operates national training centres at the Centre of Excellence in Toronto and at Uniprix Stadium in Montreal. Tennis Canada is a proud member of the International Tennis Federation, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee and the International Wheelchair Tennis Association, and serves to administer, sponsor and select the teams for Davis Cup, Fed Cup, the Olympic and Paralympic Games and all wheelchair, junior and senior national teams. Tennis Canada invests its surplus into tennis development. For more information on Tennis Canada please visit our Web site at: http://www.lovemeansnothing.ca/.
Media Contacts:
Montreal Office
Louis-Philippe Dorais Valérie Tétreault
Director, Communications and Marketing Coordinator, Communications
514-273-1515, ext. 232 514-273-1515, ext. 259
lpdorais@tenniscanada.com vtetreault@tenniscanada.com
Toronto Office
Tanya Phillipps Sarah Grossman
Director, Communications and Media Relations Coordinator, Communications and Media Relations
416-276-9329 416-509-9694
tphillipps@tenniscanada.com sgrossman@tenniscanada.com
MILOS RAONIC NE PARTICIPERA PAS À LA COUPE DAVIS
(Toronto, le 30 juin 2011)- Tennis Canada annonçait aujourd’hui que Milos Raonic (Thornhill, Ont.) ne sera pas en mesure de participer à la rencontre de la Coupe Davis opposant le Canada à l’Équateur prévue du 8 au 10 juillet, à Guayaquil. L’équipe canadienne sera donc composée de Philip Bester (Vancouver, BC), Daniel Nestor (Toronto), Peter Polansky (Thornhill, Ont.) et Vasek Pospisil (Vernon, BC).
« Il y a toujours un cinquième homme avec nous », mentionnait le capitaine Martin Laurendeau. « Maintenant que nous savons que Milos ne pourra pas jouer, ce sont Bester, Nestor, Polansky et Pospisil qui représenteront notre pays. Tout comme pour les autres rencontres que nous avons disputées en Amérique du Sud, nous savons que ce ne sera pas facile, mais les gars sont prêts à tout donner pour arracher une victoire. »
Raonic ne peut participer en raison d’une blessure à la hanche qu’il a subie le 22 juin au deuxième tour de Wimbledon. Il se soumet encore à des tests pour déterminer la gravité de sa blessure.
« Aucune décision n’a encore été prise au sujet des traitements de Milos », mentionnait Michael Downey, président et chef de la direction de Tennis Canada. « À la veille de la fête du Canada, j’invite les amateurs de tennis d’un océan à l’autre à encourager notre équipe de la Coupe Davis qui se prépare à concourir pour mériter la chance de se battre pour une place au sein du Groupe mondial. »
Ce sera un 7e affrontement entre les deux pays. L’Équateur domine avec 5 victoires contre une seule pour le Canada. La dernière rencontre opposant les deux équipes avait été remportée par l’Équateur 3-2, en 2009. L’équipe gagnante disputera une rencontre de barrage en septembre prochain afin de tenter de mériter sa place au sein du Groupe mondial. Le journaliste Tom Tebbutt sera sur place et fournira quotidiennement du matériel très intéressant sur le site web officiel de Tennis Canada : www.ViveLesEchanges.ca .
Horaire des matchs de la Coupe Davis par BNP Paribas opposant le Canada à l’Équateur
(heure de l’Est)
Vendredi 8 juillet 2011 16 h deux matchs de simple
Samedi 9 juillet 2011 20 h un match de double
Dimanche 10 juillet 2011 16 h deux matchs de simple
À propos de la Coupe Davis par BNP Paribas
La Coupe Davis par BNP Paribas est la plus importante compétition sportive par équipe. Bien que 133 nations participent aux épreuves de la Coupe Davis en 2010, seules 16 se qualifient chaque année pour le Groupe mondial. Aux autres niveaux, les pays participants sont répartis en trois zones : la zone américaine, la zone Asie/Océanie et la zone Europe/Afrique. Quatre groupes forment chacune de ces zones, le Groupe I étant le meilleur. Pour obtenir plus de renseignements, visitez www.daviscup.com.
À propos de Tennis Canada
Tennis Canada, dont les origines remontent à 1890, est une organisation sportive nationale sans but lucratif responsable du développement, de la promotion et de la mise en valeur du tennis au pays. Tennis Canada possède et administre deux des plus prestigieux tournois de l’ATP et du WTA Tour; les volets masculin et féminin de la Coupe Rogers présentée par Banque Nationale, dont la présentation alterne chaque année entre le Centre Rexall, à Toronto, et le Stade Uniprix, à Montréal. De plus, Tennis Canada possède et administre sept tournois professionnels sanctionnés par l’ITF et soutient financièrement sept autres tournois professionnels au Canada. Tennis Canada administre des centres nationaux d’entraînement au Centre de l’excellence, à Toronto, et au Stade Uniprix, à Montréal. Tennis Canada est membre de la Fédération internationale de tennis, du Comité olympique canadien, du Comité paralympique canadien et de l’Association internationale de tennis en fauteuil roulant. De plus, Tennis Canada administre, commandite et choisit des équipes pour la Coupe Davis, la Fed Cup, les Jeux olympiques et paralympiques et forme des équipes nationales pour les juniors, les vétérans et les joueurs de tennis en fauteuil roulant. Tennis Canada investit ses excédents budgétaires dans le développement du tennis. Pour obtenir plus amples renseignements sur Tennis Canada, visitez notre site Web sur www.ViveLesEchanges.ca.
Renseignements:
Bureau de Montréal
Louis-Philippe Dorais Valérie Tétreault
Directeur, communications et marketing Coordonnatrice, communications
514-273-1515, poste 232 514-273-1515, poste 259
lpdorais@tenniscanada.com vtetreault@tenniscanada.com
Bureau de Toronto
Tanya Phillipp Sarah Grossman
Directrice, communications et relations médias Coordonnatrice, communications et relations médias
416-276-9329 416-509-9694
tphillipps@tenniscanada.com sgrossman@tenniscanada.com
MILOS RAONIC PROFILE
Riddle me this. What’s 6 foot 5, 20 years old, and can serve a tennis ball 147 miles per hour?
You’re telling me that you don’t know. I guess I can tell you then. It’s Milos Raonic. Milos who?
In less than a month Milos Raonic has shot up the ATP rankings all the way up to 59th after becoming the first Canadian since 1995 to win an ATP tour event today. He knocked off Fernando Verdasco 7-6, 7-6 in a match where there was not one break of serve. Don’t let that stat fool you though, this man ain’t your run of the mill big boy server.
This may have been Raonic’s first tour victory, but this all started with his run at the Australian Open where he reached 4th round of the Australian Open losing out to the Spaniard David Ferrer. Despite the defeat, even the brightest mind in tennis took notice as John McEnroe tweeted that Raonic is “the real deal.”
Born in the former Yugoslavia and raised in Thornhill, Ontario, is it possible that Canada’s first true relevant tennis player could be the next great player as well?
He may be 5 inches taller, but with constant comparisons to Pistol Pete Sampras and high praise from respected people around the tennis world it definitely isn’t out of the question to see Raonic at the top of the sport in a few years.
Milos Raonic has been compared to the great Pete Sampras
As you probably gathered from the opening riddle, Raonic serves like no one else on tour. He may not be the true definition of a serve and volley player like Sampras was, but his net game is still very polished. He likes to come to net and once he’s up there it is no easy task for his opponent to hit a passing shot around his 6 foot 5 frame.
However, his ground game too often resembles that of John Isner’s as he is unable to hang in extended rally’s much of the time. There are a couple of positives though when it comes to his ground strokes. First off, he hits the ball with a lot of force when he gets it right and is able to hit the power winner’s that you need for those all important cheap points (other than the ones he gets off his serve).
I think though that the most significant aspect of his repertoire is that he is just 20 years of age. He has lots of time to improve his ground strokes, which will allow him to at least be able to compete in rallies with the best in the business.
How about another riddle then. What separates the guys like Nadal and Federer from the rest of the pack?
It’s not their incredible collection of abilities if that’s what you were thinking. Give up, again? It’s the quality that you can’t teach anyone, clutch play. Just give Greg Norman a call, he can confirm that for you.
Milos Raonic has shown some of that Jordan-esque capability of coming up big when you need it most. Well, maybe not quite Jordan-esque but you get where I’m coming from.
It was apparent that Raonic was unphased by the grand stage of the Australian Open and simply lost to a better David Ferrer who has arguably the best return of serve on tour. He gave further proof of his clutch play last night when he staved off 4 set points in the first set tie-breaker versus Fernando Verdasco. Was Raonic that clutch or was Verdasco that choke? Probably a combination of the two, but to have the mental toughness to come back from down 6-2 in your first ever ATP Final is something special from such a young man.
Moreover, his serve and volley type of game should force opponents to rethink their strategy in this rally-dominated era of tennis.
I’m going to wimp out here a bit and say that I have absolutely no idea if this guy IS in fact the next one. He is an undeniable top 10 player and from the looks of it that ranking shouldn’t be too far. However, the jump from top 10 to best in the one world is a massive one and right now I think we’re going to have to let Mr. Raonic thaw for some time before making any snap judgements.
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