Advertisement

Andy Murray becomes world No. 1 after Milos Raonic pulls out of Paris semi-final

Andy Murray becomes world No. 1 after Milos Raonic pulls out of Paris semi-final

All the talk going into the semi-final clash between Canadian Milos Raonic and Andy Murray of Great Britain at the Paris Masters Saturday was about Murray's quest to become the No. 1 men's tennis player in the world.

If he defeated Raonic – as he had done all five times they met in 2016 and the last seven times going back to a Raonic win at Indian Wells in early 2014 – he would finally ascend to the top spot on the podium.

Understandably less-publicized was the fact that if Raonic could win, he would move up to a career-best No. 3 in the rankings, an impressive feat under any circumstances but particularly in this era.

Raonic seemed eager to take on Andy Murray once more in Saturday's Paris semi-final, when he posted this on Facebook after the win over Tsonga.
Raonic seemed eager to take on Andy Murray once more in Saturday's Paris semi-final, when he posted this on Facebook after the win over Tsonga.

Unfortunately, Raonic wasn't able to take the court. A quad strain suffered during his quarter-final match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France late Friday night worsened overnight, and the 25-year-old was forced to withdraw from a semi-final for the second time in his last three tournaments.

"Yesterday at 4-2 in the first set, started feeling some pain in my leg. I didn’t think too much of it at that point. This morning I had trouble waking up and getting out of bed. so I went to sort of clear any serious diagnosis. Did some tests, did an MRI, and they found that I have a tear, a Grade 1 tear in the right quad. So unfortunately I’m not able to compete against And today in the second semi-final," Raonic said during a press conference in Paris.

Raonic didn't call for a trainer at any point during the match against Tsonga; he managed to get through it in straight sets although had it gone to a third, the effects might have been felt.

A "Grade 1" muscle tear is the least serious, with Grade 3 being the worse. A generally-accepted definition would be that it causes discomfort, but the muscle isn't compromised. Still, a tennis player has to be able to run – especially against a player like Andy Murray. So there was little chance he could prevail thus hampered, and might even have made it worse.

The ATP Tour Finals, which Raonic qualified for a month ago as one of the best eight this season, begins in just over a week; Raonic said Saturday that he was "borderline" in terms of playing it.

His Facebook post late Saturday night in Paris seemed more posititive, and qualified the tear as "minor."

Raonic's ATP Tour Finals history has been star-struck, at best. We'll see if he's able to answer the bell this time. (Facebook)
Raonic's ATP Tour Finals history has been star-struck, at best. We'll see if he's able to answer the bell this time. (Facebook)

If he doesn't, it would mark the third consecutive season Raonic has been star-crossed in terms of the ATP's signature finale. In 2014, Raonic qualified, lost his first two matches and then withdrew from the event before his third and final round-robin match against Kei Nishikori of Japan after suffering a ... low-grade quad tear during the second match – against, as it happened, Andy Murray.

A year ago, very much in the race to make the final eight in London, Raonic cut short his season after the Shanghai tournament in early October, withdrawing from his last three tournaments in the wake of a back issue that hampered him from the US Open onwards.

Raonic's 2016 season has been nothing short of frustrating since those heady moments in July when he reached the Wimbledon final.

Since that loss to Murray, the Canadian

-was defeated in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup in Toronto by Gaël Monfils

-skipped the Olympics in Rio

-reached the semis of the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, losing to ... Murray.

-suffered an unexpected bout of cramping in a second-round loss at the US Open against American Ryan Harrison.

-missed the Davis Cup relegation tie two weeks later as he continued to recover from the cramping.

-played the St. Petersburg, Russia ATP Tour event the very next week (where he was defending champion), but lost a shocker to veteran Mikhail Youzhny in his first match.

-rebounded two weeks later in Beijing, but turned his ankle in his quarter-final match against Pablo Carreño-Busta and was forced to give semi-final opponent Grigor Dimitrov a walkover in a match that would have clinched his qualification for London, had he won.

-qualified for London the next day, with the way the other matches shook out.

-managed to play the next week, but lost his second match in Shanghai after winning the first set 6-0 against American Jack Sock.

-was defeated in the first round in Basel, Switzerland by No. 91-ranked Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania – again, after a routine first set.

And now, this.

Despite all the physical challenges, Raonic has maintained his place in the top five. That's partly due to the outside forces that helped Murray ascend to the No. 1 spot – Novak Djokovic's struggles, the absences of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He still will move up to a career-high No. 4 in the rankings again on Monday, just 65 points behind No. 3 Stan Wawrinka.

Even if Raonic can't play in London, he likely will finish the season no worse than No. 5. But clearly, he needs to take a long, hard look during the off-season at new and better ways to keep himself healthy and on the court.