Raonic performs U-turn after calling umpire a liar over controversial name
Milos Raonic has backtracked after claiming the officers in his Canadian Open first-round match weren’t “being completely honest”. There was an uncommon name when Fergus Murphy awarded Frances Tiafoe some extent after he touched the online as a result of it got here exterior of the singles strains. Raonic was nonetheless in a position to advance and booked his spot within the last-16 with one other victory on Wednesday.
There was drama on day one of many Canadian Open when a little-known rule was enforced in Raonic’s match in opposition to Tiafoe. The ninth seed hit a winner on set level within the first set tiebreak however touched the online – an act which normally means a participant loses the purpose.
But as a result of the American solely touched the online past the singles put up – with a doubles internet getting used for the singles match – Murphy modified his name and gave Tiafoe the purpose, which gave him the primary set. The supervisor got here to the courtroom to elucidate however after coming again to win the match, Raonic stated: “I don’t have faith that they were being completely honest, but it is what it is.”
However, the previous world No 3 has now made a U-turn and agreed that the umpire made the correct resolution. “It was the right call by Fergus,” Raonic stated after beating Taro Daniel to advance to the third spherical.
“I think for me the main thing was just the back and forth on it, the fact that there was a few changes about that decision, like, two or three at least. So, obviously, when somebody changes their mind, you’re not exactly sure if they are kind of sure in the decision they’re making.
While he understood the rule, Raonic admitted that he wasn’t sure if it needed a review. “And I think it’s also, like, everybody I’ve kind of spoken to, it’s kind of a rule that’s — it’s not outdated, but it’s kind of not a logical rule,” he defined.
“Because I think — my understanding is if I touch that ball that goes across the court, it is my point. Because by him leaning on that part of the net, it affects the height of the net; right? So then it becomes my point. So it only counts as a permanent object, or whatever the writing would be, because it’s a winner.
“But then what happens all the times that I’ve seen it many times, if somebody serves wide on the deuce side, they go down the line, they hit the let court on that side of the singles stick and it goes in, that means the point should be over. Because as a permanent object, it should be the same as, you know, hitting the umpire’s chair and the ball going in the court. It’s not squash. It’s tennis; right?”
Like many pundits and followers, Raonic additionally thought the problem might have been prevented by utilizing singles internet posts as an alternative of creating singles gamers use a doubles format. He added: “So I think consistency is the most important thing.
“Also, when I kind of look back at it, I don’t know if it’s because we have the rubber nets at ATP events, but there probably should be singles sticks. Like, Grand Slams have singles stick. Like, Center Court here is not getting a single doubles match so far, three days in.
“They probably should be putting up singles nets. You see it at Grand Slams. They do change them and stuff like that. So maybe that’s another aspect. Who knows.” The 32-year-old had one final suggestion as he questioned whether or not the doubles internet was additionally used to provide house to the sponsor’s branding.
“Maybe it’s a Fly Emirates thing, I’m assuming, because they want to be there. But I’m pretty sure somebody can put a cardboard box and write ‘Emirates’ on it and they would be happy,” he smiled. “Yeah, there’s a few — it’s not a very clear thing. But the decision by Fergus was the right one.”