As Daniel Nestor left the court on Saturday night, the Aviva Centre crowd promptly rose to their feet and cheered in adulation despite the result.
Nestor, 43, along with partner Vasek Pospisil, the lone Canadians left at the Rogers Cup, lost a tightly contested semi-final match, 6-4 6-7 10-7 (in non-Slam doubles the third set is played as a tie-breaker). Facing a standing ovation following his 28th Rogers Cup appearance, Nestor briefly looked up on his way to the tunnel and offered a short wave to the fans, more boisterous in this moment than at any during the actual match.
Nestor likely has more competitive years left in him, but heading into the tournament— as has been the case for a few years now—many openly wondered if this would be the 43 year-old's final appearance at the Rogers Cup. If it turns out to be, it was a fitting goodbye.
You see, Nestor is the Tim Duncan of tennis: a perpetual winner who has, quietly, assembled a truly jaw-dropping resume. A surefire hall of famer, his peers revere him, and he's stayed at the top of his game as the sport evolved around him. Of active players on tour, only Roger Federer and the Bryan brothers have won more ATP titles (he trails Federer by just two).
And yet he does it without the attention and adulation of Canadian counterparts like Milos Raonic and Genie Bouchard, both of whom, by Saturday, had been eliminated from Rogers Cup action.
What more does Daniel Nestor have to do?
That the doubles draw takes a backseat at tournaments like this isn't all that surprising. The game isn't as fast-paced, and its less-marketed stars, like Nestor, don't draw in the casual fan. For the first-half of the Nestor-Pospisil match, the stands were half-empty, making it feel like something of a filler between the two men's semi-finals.
Which is a shame— and not only because it means less people are likely to enjoy, or appreciate, Nestor's success. Doubles is an entirely different experience than singles. At times it looks like human pinball, and it's not rare for entire rally stretches to be played without the ball hitting the ground as opponents volley back and forth. At other times, it feels like chess boxing— bursts of athleticism followed by moments of stagnation. It carries with it an entirely different strategy than singles, and teams use hidden hand signals to adjust their game plan on the fly, like a pitcher exchanging signs with a catcher.
It also a sport that allows for longevity, as Nestor can attest.
On Saturday, he showed few signs of age. After letting a 4-2 lead in the second set slip, Nestor was instrumental in winning the tie-breaker at 6-6. As Pospisil had difficulty keeping his shots from going long, Nestor took control, at one point hitting three straight winners to even the match at one set apiece.
In the third set tie-break, the pair quickly found themselves down 2-6. Their opponents, Britain's Jamie Murray (older brother of singles star Andy) and Brazil's Bruno Soares, seemed to get stronger as the match went on and, despite a comeback that brought the score to within one point, proved more consistent than the homecrowd favourites.
On Monday, Nestor and Pospisil will fly down to Rio de Janero to represent Canada at the Olympics, and after the match seemed ready to move on from tonight.
It was sixteen years ago in Sydney, Australia, that Nestor and partner Sebastien Lareau took home gold, still Canada's lone Olympic medal in tennis. Just don't ask Pospisil for any details. "Honestly I'd be lying if I said I remembered," Pospisil said as Nestor chuckled. "I guess I was too young."
The age gap—17 years— is readily apparent between them, but often serves the pair well. Throughout their match on Saturday, Pospisil was a bundle of uncontained energy relative to his partner, jumping and urging his team after winning points—"C'mon!"— the frequency of his fist-pumps increasing with the stakes of the match.
Nestor, he of more than a few rodeos, is less excitable, both on and off the court.
As Pospisil studied his shoes for most of the pair's post-match press conference, visibly dejected, Nestor's analysis of their performance at the tournament was even-keeled.
"We feel fine," Nestor says, immediately following the match. "We played some good matches, didn't play our best but played well. [Murray and Soares] were just a little bit more solid today," he said adding, that he "started the match pretty slow."
Pospisil's self-criticism was much sharper.
"My problem is getting down on myself," he says, two days removed from admitting his confidence level was nearing an all-time low after he lost in the second round of the singles draw. "That was not a very good performance on my side. As the match was going on my level was dropping. I feel responsible for that third set."
Nestor knows his role as the steady veteran on this team. "Part of doubles," he explains, "you have to show support, keep the energy up and focus on the next point. We have confidence in each other that you're going to turn it around eventually."
Next week will mark Nestor's sixth appearance at the Olympics, where Canadian tennis fans will get another opportunity to appreciate his continuing accomplishments in the sport— he's won two titles in 2016 and Saturday was his fifth semi-final appearance. But even with more than two and half decades of pro tennis behind him, Nestor's not ready to spend too much time gazing into the rearview mirror quite yet. There's still more tennis to be played.
"It's exciting," says Nestor of the upcoming Olympic tournament, "because I think we can win a medal."
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://members.shaw.ca/almosthuman99/babeofthemonthman.html
No comments:
Post a Comment