Daniel Nestor leaves Canadian tennis safe in the hands of youngsters
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Nestor was a solid singles player as well but by the mid-90s he knew where to chase glory in his beloved sport, becoming one of the leading doubles figures on the Tour and spending some 24 years in the top-100! After winning everything he could on the Tour and embracing an Olympic glory in Sydney 2000, Daniel has decided to retire last year after just six wins, driving his marvelous career towards the final stage and leaving the sport as the living legend.
Nestor shifted his focus on his family and all the things he was missing while traveling around the globe on a regular basis. Spending his retirement days in Toronto with his wife and two daughters, Nestor often hits the court with his older daughter, also helping the local community and organizing charity events, something he has been doing for decades now.
Daniel has left the Canadian tennis with a bright future on the horizon, with Milos Raonic, Denis Shapovalov, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Eugenie Bouchard, Bianca Andreescu and Gabriela Dabrowski all playing well recently and keeping the Canadian flag high alongside the other big tennis nations.
Like that wasnt enough, Nestor sprained his ankle during the practice for the junior action a few days later, flying back to Canada on crutches. He was the finalist in Melbourne in 1995 and won the title in 2002 together with Mark Knowles but he is not nostalgic or sad for not being in Melbourne as a player, saying he struggled a lot in the previous year and that his retirement came at the best possible moment.
Weve never had this many top players, . We did have depth in the late 80s and early 90s for a while there, but its great to see that we have all these players. Not only that theyre doing well but theyre probably inspiring the next generation to do well and thats exciting for sure.
I feel like I got everything I could out of me and now I train with my daughter. Im a little bit of a disciplinarian so she probably doesnt like that part of it. But shes still showing up every time we book a court, so thats good.
I still remember I played this guy and I was up 6-1, 5-2 in the first round of the Aussie Open qualifying in 1990 and I ended up losing. But I just remember the court was so warm that I could feel the heat through my shoes.
My feet were actually kind of burning during the match. Id never felt that before. But it didnt really bother me then, I was a kid. I remember getting wheeled into the locker room and being embarrassed because I was this junior and all these top players were in there.
It was the first time Id ever really been exposed to that. So they treated me and then I had to fly home back to Canada on crutches. Two years later I have qualified at Grand Slam for the first time and then three weeks later I played Edberg.
I wasnt winning as much in 2018 and I dont miss the feeling of trying to win a match or two rather than trying to win a tournament, which I was more accustomed to earlier in my career. Im very happy staying in one spot.
