Milos Raonic bounces back from disappointing Davis Cup with SAP Open victory

A week after exiting Canada's disappointing Davis Cup loss to France with a feared knee injury, tennis sensation Milos Raonic proved he can't be kept down for long, thumping Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the final of the SAP Open in San Jose Sunday. Raonic's dominating serve was on full display, as he recorded seven aces and only lost four points while serving all match. The victory gave Raonic his third career ATP World Tour victory and his second-straight SAP Open title, and it also proved that he's back from injury and perhaps ready to continue his rise up the world rankings. However, although some may insist otherwise, this win didn't prove there's anything fishy about Raonic playing and winning this week after bowing out of last Sunday's Davis Cup singles match thanks to injury.

Some will question why Raonic was able to play in this tournament but not that Davis Cup match. However, there's a logical explanation; tournament medical staff sensed there might be something wrong but weren't able to get confirmation one way or the other thanks to the swelling on Raonic's knee, so he was pulled more out of caution than anything else. From the Tennis Canada release on Raonic's win:

It's worth pointing out that Raonic's exit likely didn't even matter for the outcome of that Davis Cup tie, either. Sure, a Raonic victory over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga would have been nice, but it would only have evened the tie at 2-2 and left its outcome to the evening match of Vasek Pospisil and 13th-ranked Gaël Monfils. Monfils wiped the floor with Poposil in a 6-4, 6-4 win, so it seems likely that even if Raonic had played (and won, which would have been a notable upset, Canada still would have lost the tie.

There's no need to go questioning Raonic's decision to play this week. He's proven quite loyal to Canada in the last couple years of Davis Cup play, and his win in Vancouver was the primary highlight of last week's tie for the Canadian team. It's worth pointing out that he volunteered to play that doubles match, too, a match he wasn't originally scheduled for in a discipline he doesn't specialize in. Many pros would have said, 'thanks, but no thanks', especially if they were playing a tournament the next week, but Raonic took a gamble to try and help the Canadian team. That one didn't pay off, but it's nice that Raonic wasn't injured as a result, and this weekend's performance proved he's more than capable of bouncing back. There's no real controversy to see here, only an incredibly promising Canadian tennis player who just won another championship.