Milos Raonic has backtracked after claiming the officials in his Canadian Open first-round match weren’t “being completely honest”. There was an unusual call when Fergus Murphy awarded Frances Tiafoe a point after he touched the net because it came outside of the singles lines. Raonic was still able to advance and booked his spot in the last-16 with another victory on Wednesday.
There was drama on day one of the Canadian Open when a little-known rule was enforced in Raonic’s match against Tiafoe. The ninth seed hit a winner on set point in the first set tiebreak but touched the net – an act which usually means a player loses the point.
But because the American only touched the net beyond the singles post – with a doubles net being used for the singles match – Murphy changed his call and gave Tiafoe the point, which gave him the first set. The supervisor came to the court to explain but after coming back to win the match, Raonic said: “I don’t have faith that they were being completely honest, but it is what it is.”
However, the former world No 3 has now made a U-turn and agreed that the umpire made the right decision. “It was the right call by Fergus,” Raonic said after beating Taro Daniel to advance to the third round.
“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 “And I think it’s also, like, everybody I’ve kind of spoken to, it’s kind of a rule that’s — it’s not outdated, but it’s kind of not a logical rule,” he explained.
“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 fans, Raonic also thought the issue could have been avoided by using singles net posts instead of making singles players use a doubles layout. 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 last suggestion as he questioned whether the doubles net was also used to give space 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.”