This weekend’s Davis Cup tie between Canada and the Netherlands marks the end of an era for renowned doubles specialist Daniel Nestor.
The 46-year-old took to the court on Saturday to play the final competitive match of his career alongside Vasek Pospisil. Playing in his 53rd Davis Cup tie, the Canadian duo bowed out 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, to the Dutch pairing of Matwe Middelkoop and Jean-Julien Rojer. The loss has revived the Netherlands chances of winning the play-off tie as Nestor enters into the world of retirement.
“I wanted to play one more season and this match was one of the most important of the year for me and, obviously, I wanted to play better,” CBC Canada quoted Nestor as saying afterwards. “I prepared pretty well for it and I was playing well in practice, but my level’s just not good enough anymore.”
It is only fitting that Nestor should play his final match in the Davis Cup. He played in the team competition for 26 years, making his debut against Stefan Edberg back in 1992. Since then, he has become Canada’s most successful player in Davis Cup history with a total of 48 wins – 33 in doubles and 15 in singles.
“Danny’s had an unbelievable career. We have a lot of respect for him and what he’s been able to accomplish. In a way we were happy we were his last match. He’s a close friend of ours.” Dutch player Rojer told Tennis Canada.
“I know he was looking forward to this match and to be honest he came out and played very good at the beginning of the match and both of us were impressed. You give him a lot of credit for that because I know he prepared to come out and give a good showing, which he did. But you can say eventually Father Time is undefeated – it catches up with you. Maybe he had some nicks and bruises on the court. But it was an unbelievable career and now he gets to enjoy a new part of his life.”
Outside of the Davis Cup, Nestor has achieved a series of milestones throughout his career. He has won 91 doubles titles on the ATP World Tour, including 28 at Masters 1000 level. In 2009 he became the first player in history to win all four grand slam and nine Masters events. Nestor is also a former Olympic gold medallist after triumphing at the 2000 Sydney games alongside Sébastien Lareau. The duo remains the only Canadian tennis players to have won a medal at an Olympic Games. Nestor also peaked at a ranking high of 58th in the singles and won four titles on the Challenger tour between 1995-1998.
On Sunday, Nestor will be officially be inducted into the Canadian tennis Hall of Fame. A special ceremony will take place prior to the start of Milos Raonic’s match against Robin Haase.
“I consider him one of my really good friends, so it’s tough to see him go,” said Pospisil. “Honestly, it was an honour to be on the court with him. I really wanted to win this with him in his last match.
“It’s been a pretty fun ride playing with Daniel over the years and I’ll be sad to see him go.”
Canada current leads the Netherlands 2-1 in the Davis Cup going into the final day of the tie.
Some parting words from 🇨🇦 @danielnestor after the legendary Canadian played his final professional match earlier pic.twitter.com/PbuYEsHPkL
— Davis Cup (@DavisCup) September 15, 2018
