DPA/Paris


Milos Raonic is prepared to fund a repair job worth 25,000 Canadian dollars (23,000 US dollars) on local tennis courts in his home of Thornhill, near Toronto. But the kind offer from the local boy made good seems to have hit some banal political headwinds created by local officials.
The proposal from the Monte Carlo-based Canadian, now into the second round at the French Open, has yet to be officially adopted by the local town council. Canadian media report that Raonic noticed the sad state of the courts where he used to hit as a boy and offered to bankroll their refurbishment.
One councillor thought it a great idea and moved to accept the offer, even going so far as to propose naming the courts after the tennis hero. But no political action anywhere in the world comes without an equally strong - if pointless - reaction.
Critics now say it would look like the local suburb is in the game of accepting monies for naming rights, a common practice at metropolitan sports stadiums all over the US where politicians are only too happy to take free corporate money.
So far, the generous offer is deadlocked in typical fashion, with the idea going nowhere fast.

Sad Stan in search for solutions
Stan Wawrinka was clearly crushed after losing his opening match at the French Open to Guillermo Garcia Lopez just four months after triumphing against Rafael Nadal for the Australian Open title.
“I need to put the puzzle back together,” said the sad Swiss after his untimely exit from Roland Garros.
Wawrinka has always said he is not at the level of the Federers, Djokovics and Nadals of the tennis sphere. And the 29-year-old repeated that assertion in defeat.
“Since I won a slam, I realised that what they have been doing for years is just incredible. Everyone knows it, but sometimes you don’t actually realise how difficult it is to do what they do.
“It’s fabulous. And I know that I’m not at their level, because I didn’t win my first grand slam at the age of 20 like they did.  I was 29. So things are different.
“Now I need to find a way to put the pieces back together for the end of the season. I thought I had everything I needed to play a beautiful Roland Garros, but so far I had a very beautiful beginning of season. But I always want to have more and you’re never happy when you lose.”
The ATP number three also lost his way in February after his Melbourne miracle; it took a Monte Carlo title on clay in April to put things right, temporarily. “After Miami (in March where he lost in the fourth round) I had what I needed to be back, and then I won a Masters 1000,” he said.
“It was a beautiful victory, but maybe I need to get back to basics and be happy with simple things. I have great expectations for myself, but in a match, as long as I’m not able to play the level that I want to play I’m not satisfied, so maybe I need to work on that.”