Milos Raonic targets Rogers Cup for return from injury

Milos Raonic is looking to resume his season on home soil.

The native of Thornhill, Ont., is currently sidelined with lingering problems from foot surgery in May. But he's targeting the Rogers Cup in Montreal, which begins Aug. 7, for his return to the tennis court.

"Yes, that's the objective for me now," Raonic said during a conference call Thursday.

Raonic, who's ranked eighth in the world, underwent surgery to repair a pinched nerve leading to a toe. The operation forced Raonic to miss the French Open.

He resumed playing in June and last week lost a third-round match to Australian Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon. Raonic said the surgery fixed the nerve problem but he's now dealing with fluid buildup in the foot that he's being very cautious with.

So Raonic won't play for Canada's Davis Cup squad in Belgium later this month.

The team received another big blow Thursday when Tennis Canada announced Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil, who reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon, wouldn't play either because of a severe bone bruise to his right wrist.

Pospisil's replacement will be named later but the absence of the country's top two singles players leaves the Canadian squad with Frank Dancevic of Niagara Falls, Ont., and Toronto's Daniel Nestor — both Davis Cup veterans — as well as Vancouver's Filip Peliwo. Toronto's Adil Shamasdin was scheduled to travel as a squad player before Pospisil's withdrawal.

"It's very disappointing, it's very disheartening," Raonic said of missing the Davis Cup tie. "It was a big part of the scheduling for me but I want to be able to be ready to compete."

Raonic, 24, admitted he played through pain at Wimbledon and while disappointed with his showing, the hard-serving Canadian said he performed as well as could be expected.

"When I step back and look at the big picture it was an OK week in that sense," he said. "I'm happy with the way I competed.

"I made the most of the situation and that's really all I could ask of myself."

Raonic suggested the source of his current issue was returning to the court too quickly after surgery, something he doesn't want to repeat this time around.

"I was told I can start doing rehab and some form of low-impact training after seven-to-10 days and no tennis for about three weeks," Raonic said. "That still gives me a few weeks before Rogers Cup to really get myself into top shape.

"I know I can do it in the time that I have . . . this time around I want to make sure that I take the right amount of time that, really, it's completely behind me and I'm not in the situation of any discomfort or questioning about my feet come training time and Rogers Cup time."