Raonic pulled from Davis Cup with knee injury

VANCOUVER - Milos Raonic reluctantly put career before country.

Canada's top men's singles player pulled out of a key Davis Cup reverse singles match against France due to a knee injury Sunday.

Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., got the call to replace Raonic against sixth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and fell in straight sets, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1, in the decisive match that gave France an eventual 4-1 win.

Raonic, the world No. 29 from Thornhill, Ont., experienced some pain in his knee during and after Saturday's doubles match. Raonic said he experienced soreness all week while practising, but was prepared to deal with the discomfort. He said it was his decision to play doubles, rather than wait until Sunday's singles match, because the team indicated it needed him.

However, the knee got worse just before the first-set tiebreaker Saturday, and he decided not to play singles Sunday because he did not know the extent of the injury.

"It started affecting the main parts of my game -- my serve and my first step," Raonic said, adding he would have been "useless" in the decisive singles match if the knee started hurting after one set.

After being sidelined much of 2011 with a hip injury that required surgery, he did not want to risk a similar ordeal again.

"I went through that last year," Raonic said. "I don't need that again, and we felt that, considering the condition I was in, (Dancevic) was a much better player -- as he showed today. He really played well. No matter who you put out there today, the way (Tsonga) is playing, he's tough to beat."

The lineup change was announced about an hour before play was scheduled to begin. Rules required the switch to be made within 60 minutes of the start of the match.

France will take on the United States in the World Group quarter-finals in April. Canada must play a World Group playoff tie in September to try to retain its spot in the elite 16-team group for 2013.

"No team wants to see their No. 1 player not in the lineup," said Canadian captain Martin Laurendeau. "It was an unfortunate scenario. It's been three ties in a row that he's been out of action for us (because of health issues). So we hope that he can get better soon and get back to playing good tennis again. But Milos is young. He's only 21, and he'll get to play a lot of Davis Cup matches again.

"We've just got to make sure that, for his own sake, he doesn't go through another four or five months off the tour again like he did last year. He's got a lot of tournaments this year. It's a busy schedule, and the sooner he gets back out there, the better."

Dancevic, who has also battled injuries in the last year, was fairly certain Saturday that he would play. Raonic's pullout was confirmed Sunday morning. Dancevic said Raonic loves to play for Canada and would have if he was healthy enough.

"It wasn't worth it for him to go out and play against Tsonga, because he knew he'd have to run a lot and play a really tough match," Dancevic said. "At this point, he had to make a smart decision."

French captain Guy Forget said his team felt sorry for Raonic. Canada had hoped to use the power games of Raonic and fellow 21-year old Vancouver resident Vasek Pospisil to its advantage, along with its chosen hard court and raucous fans.

But Forget said the adverse conditions were not too difficult.

"They're not too mean," said Forget of the Canadian fans. "I don't think Vancouver should make us upset because, first of all, we were very happy to be in Vancouver in the first place, and I think Vancouver's probably one of the cities that could host that tie. It's not always easy to find a stadium of that capacity."

Raonic commented on his injury following the Tsonga-Dancevic match. He refused to address the media earlier in the day and faced a Twitter campaign to speak to reporters.

But he insisted his comments were voluntary and not in response to the public pressure. Although he is the "face of Canadian tennis," he did not want to be the focus as Canada battled for a quarter-final berth.

"I wanted to be there (as) part of the team, and it was important," Raonic said. "It was a live tie, and we were by no means out of it."

Raonic's injury raised questions about whether he will play in next week's ATP Tour event in San Jose. He plans to go there and get evaluated further before deciding.

"I really have no understanding of what I'm really dealing with," said Raonic. "I still need a lot more information. That's going to be a big part of the decision."