Milos Raonic Withdraws From The French Open; Rafael Nadal Moves Up To A No. 6 Seed

by Staff | May 21st, 2015, 5:05 pm
  • 22 Comments

A day before the release of the French Open draw, project six seed Milos Raonic withdrew from the event, he announced on twitter.

“I am sad to have to unfortunately withdraw from Roland Garros this year, I tried my best to be back and healthy in time after surgery,” Raonic said. “I will continue my rehab and procceed with preparations for a 100 percent strong Wimbledon and Queens run.Thank you for the love and support”.

It’s just the second time Raonic has missed a Grand Slam event in his young career (2011 US Open). The 24-year-old, who reached the quarterfinals at the French in 2014, underwent a minor procedure last week to correct a pinched nerve in his right foot.


Raonic is ranked No. 6 this week. That sixth seeding will now go to Rafael Nadal when the draw is released on Friday. Stan Wawrinka also moves into the 5-8 grouping as a No. 8 seed.

33rd-ranked Fernando Verdasco was the next player to get a seed.


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22 Comments for Milos Raonic Withdraws From The French Open; Rafael Nadal Moves Up To A No. 6 Seed

TennisFan Says:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/tennis/frenchopen/11622372/French-Open-2015-Rafael-Nadal-makes-a-mockery-of-the-rule-book.html

It is a shame that this news is not on every ATP forum or Sports network.

My question is: why does the ATP keep protecting Nadal everytime he breaks rules?


Arun Says:

Totally agree with you Tennis Fan


Michael Says:

Being upgraded from Seeded 7 to 6 can change the whole contour of the outcome. That may be the difference between victory and defeat. May be, Seeded 6, Rafa would not be placed with the burden of meeting Novak in the quarters and would meet a different player probably Roger or Andy who are his bunnies on Clay court. Nevertheless, we never know how things would transpire ? Only the final draw will give us an insight into each player’s section and how much competitive the line up is.


Colin Says:

Well, I don’t agree with TennisFan, because the wording is wrong. The problem is not Rafa breaking rules, it’s the authorities failing to enforce them.

There is no mystery about this; it has been thus since tennis became enslaved to TV. In short, money rules the game.

Back in the day, McEnroe misbehaved because he knew the umpire would not dare disqualify him. Maybe the solution would be a piece of impersonal technology, a clock. After all Hawkeye has mostly been a success.


Margot Says:

But Colin that would require collective action by all the officials and, sorry, but ROFL to that idea.


Colin Says:

I know, Margot, it’s probably a pipe dream.
But how did Hawk Eye come to be used? Who made the decision? I don’t remember.


Damien Mills Says:

“The problem is not Rafa breaking rules, it’s the authorities failing to enforce them.”
WTF???
Is this what you said to your parents every time you got into trouble for doing something you KNOW you shouldn’t’ve done – “it’s your fault, not mine”?
Textbook narcissism.


Okiegal Says:

The writer of this article made a false statement. Rafa has gone to two towels, one for each corner…..to speed things up a little. There is always the question when the time count starts….this is the main problem. As a loyal fan I’m well aware that he is slow and methodical but he makes some good points. There are a lot of other things that can go on which slows the match down too and they’re rarely called out on it.


Markus Says:

If your parents don’t enforce rules, then you get don’t get punished at all. Wrong analogy.


skeezer Says:

There is no other incident that consumes more time during a tennis match than the constant slow time you can take in between points. Rafa’s retort about it was funny. How about enforcing abusing a racket? How much time and how often does that happen during a match? Once? Twice at best?
What is even more gregarious is that a Player determine what umpire he doesn’t want in his match. If this umpire was an issue with the majority of players, well, ok that would make sense, but this guy otherwise was well respected.


elina Says:

Are you saying that in all sports, most players don’t break the rules? Why have officials to call penalties then.

Colin is right. Tennis is a business. Roger and Nadal are its gluten-laden bread and butter.


skeezer Says:

“Are you saying that in all sports, most players don’t break the rules? ”
Then the intregity of all sports would be broken. But you can believe whatever you want. Put it another way, if its ok for most players to break rules, then why have them? For what purpose?
Imho ATP loses somewhat its credibility by allowing it to happen, and the player also for knowingly doing it. It goes both ways. Just because the ATP is lax, doesn’t mean its still ok to break the rule……and dump an umpire who’s trying to enforce it.


elina Says:

Soccer players foul, hockey and NFL players interfere, basketball players travel.

Players don’t self-officiate.

Have you seen how many players routinely abuse tournament officials? Roddick and Mardy Fish were prime examples and rarely if ever called on it.

Is this ok?

In Estoril a few weeks ago, Kyrgios whacked a ball out of the stadium, and having already received two code violations, one for an audible obscenity and the second for racket abuse, by the rules, he should have been forfeited but he went on to win.

Is this ok?

Yes ATP does lose “somewhat” its credibility when rules are not enforced, raws look suspect and players are given hidden, shortened or overturned doping suspensions.

The operative word being “somewhat” but not quite enough to trump the almighty dollar.

Blame the ATP.


Margot Says:

Problem is if a player is disqualified mid match not only h/she loses out, so does the crowd.
Would the tournament give them a refund? I think not.


elina Says:

Exactly Margot. You hit the deuce on the head.

The fans, viewers and sponsors drive revenues, the vast majority of which do not want high profile and entertaining players disqualified or significantly affected otherwise.

Like politicians, they might claim otherwise, but their actions speak for themselves.


Okiegal Says:

Novak is slow as molasses too…….they’ve both gotten a little quicker on serve, I think. According to the article, it’s happened before…..bad blood between players and officials. The point is its always been a rule, but throughout Rafa and Novak’s career, rule rarely enforced…….the crack down came after their match at the AO. Loved that match along with the Nando match too. Not gonna change anyone’s opinion on this matter…..it’s been hashed, trashed and rehashed a gazillion times…..it is what it is! The players put their bodies out there week after week, tennis is their livelihood, if they need recovery time between points, within reason, I think they should get it.
BTW, the player across the net wants it too….but they both are much better with the time thingy.

@Skeezer….I still think ATP needs to invest in a “toot toot horn”……remember that discussion you and I had?? Lol


skeezer Says:

Excuse me, I am specificly relating it to the articke and the time violation. You are incorrect.

“If the server goes over the 25 seconds mark, first he receives a warning, than for the second and subsequent violations he receives a fault.

If the receiver commits a time violation, then first there is a warning and for all the successive violations he will lose the point.”

They don’t get disqualified. No game could have a game if you just disqualify a player from the get go for every rule they break.
Soccer players foul, hockey and NFL players interfere, basketball players travel.”
Yes and there is a consequence for their action, they get penalized for breaking the games rules.


Markus Says:

Tennis should follow the standard set by golf, an individual sport where officiating is impeccable. The officials enforce them strictly and even the players police themselves. Tennis is the worse in all sports in terms of officiating. Everything seems left to the discretion of the umpire. Tennis players break the rules all the time and the stupid umpires often just look away, especially when the big stars are involved.


elina Says:

Yes. Penalized by the officials. Not themselves. That was my point.

Tennis is a game with rules that would have disqualified Kyrgios had the rules been enforced. It is not Kyrgios’ fault he wasn’t disqualified.


skeezer Says:

Players who habitually break rules lose credibility and intregrity imho. One could surmise by doing that it could be used as an unfair advantage to win a match. Maybe, maybe not. However, If the’re no boundaries to play within, there is no game.
It was called a gentlemens game once, not an officials.


Giles Says:

Carlos Bernardes has been “gunning” for Rafa since the incident in the O2 a few years ago in Rafa’s match against Berdych. The problem with Bernardes he makes his feelings towards Rafa pretty obvious. Why does he almost always give Rafa a warning on a critical point, namely, break point? He often has opportunities during a match to give that TV but doesn’t. He waits for the break point. Good riddance to the guy. Hope he never umpires Rafa’s matches.
Rafa is the winner!! :)


elina Says:

It is called sport, not a church garden party or a beauty pageant with points for congeniality and poise.

This sport is a business and knows the cash cow they have in Nadal. The return on investment is well worth any allowances they give for his OCD-like behaviour.

I don’t blame them or Nadal.

I enjoy his high level of tennis, like all the other great players.

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