Daniel Nestor update

[Brinyi]

For Lee and Danny's many concerned fans,

Daniel Nestor has an injury to a tendon in huis left wrist. Apparently it's not a bad injury and he is expected to return to the tour after a two month absence. So he will miss Wimbledon but should be back for the USO.

He is to be married to fiancee Natasha Gavrilovic on July 24, and this means he can't get out of wedding preparations.

You know what? I don't think I've gotten my invitation, which must have gotten lost in the mail.

[molala]

i can't believe this isn't the busiest thread in the forum! just found it today.

i hope you've gotten your invite by now, B-Ho.

heal, Danny Death, heal! best wishes to you and the soon-to-be Mrs. Death.

[Brinyi]

I'm glad you found this thread, Molala! Still haven't gotten my invitation.

[Lee]

I'm here now :red: Thanks Brinyi!

[janie]

Oh good! I was wondering about DN, too. could have been much worse news, 2 months sounds not so bad.

[Brinyi]

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Canadian Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas let a promising start slip away yesterday, losing to Australian Paul Hanley and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe in the Dubai Open final.

The top-ranked Nestor, from Toronto, and Knowles dropped the men's doubles championship match 1-6, 6-2, 10-1, the second time this season they've finished runner-up.

"We had opportunities after the first set but we let down," said Nestor. "It's too bad we couldn't keep up our momentum. After the first set, we didn't play too well.

"But that's been the story of the season so far, we're not quite at our best level."

[Lee]

Have you read this, Brinyi? They are pretty fun guys

www.atptennis.com/en/doubles/featurestories/

[Brinyi]

Thanks Lee! That had some good laughs in it.

[Brinyi]

Nestor and Knowles knocked out of first round at Nasdaq-100 Open

MIAMI (CP) - Toronto's Daniel Nestor and doubles partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas were knocked out of the first round of the Nasdaq-100 Open on Sunday just a week after winning the Pacific Life Open.

The third-seeded Nestor and Knowles fell 3-6, 6-4 and a 10-3 tiebreak to Czechs Cyril Suk and Pavel Vizner on Sunday.

Nestor and Knowles had won the Miami event in 2002 and finished runner-up in 1997.

They opened well Sunday and rolled through the opening set, but Nestor lost serve twice in the second set.

With the match square, this season's new final-set tiebreak came into effect with the first team to 10 points the victor.

Nestor and Knowles, who also won last month in Delray Beach, Fla., lost their serve a combined six times while breaking the Czechs on five occasions.

Nestor and Knowles entered the match with a 3-1 record over Suk and Vizner, having won their last three dating to last summer.

[Lee]

brinyi said:

With the match square, this season's new final-set tiebreak came into effect with the first team to 10 points the victor.

They suck in super tb.

Nestor and Knowles, who also won last month in Delray Beach, Fla., lost their serve a combined six times while breaking the Czechs on five occasions.

They weren't in Indian Wells?

[Brinyi]

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Rafael Nadal beat fellow Spaniard Tommy Robredo (blablabla...)
...
while Toronto's Daniel Nestor and partner Mark Knowles captured the doubles championship.

Nestor and Knowles, the tournament's top seeds, earned a gritty 6-2, 6-7 (4), 10-5 victory over Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski of Poland, seeded eighth. It's the third title of the year for the duo, ranked third in the world.

[Lee]

Another Master Shields for Nestor and Knowles.

[Brinyi]

lee said:

Another Master Shields for Nestor and Knowles.

Doubles victory
TOM TEBBUTT

The doubles team of Daniel Nestor of Toronto and Mark Knowles of the Bahamas has now achieved equilibrium in its 2006 results -- six opening-round losses and six finals.

The No. 3 seeds made it four titles in those six finals yesterday by winning the Italian Open with a 6-4, 5-7, 13-11 (match tiebreak) victory over sixth-seeded Jonathan Erlich and Andy Ram of Israel. In Saturday's semi-finals, Nestor and Knowles defeated second seeds Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 6-3, 7-6(5).

The pair last won the Italian Open in 1997 and now have 15 Masters Series titles together and one each with another partner -- Nestor with Sébastien Lareau and Knowles with Jim Courier.

With the title, Nestor and Knowles moved into third place in the 2006 doubles standings, behind Americans Bob and Mike Bryan and Bjorkman/Mirnyi.

"We're really coming together well as a team and looking forward to Hamburg and the French Open," Knowles said. "I dedicate this to my wife [Dawn]. It's her first Mother's Day [son Graham is eight months old] and a very special day for us."

[Brinyi]

[Lee]

It seems their noses are getting bigger and bigger

[Brinyi]

Veteran Globe scribe pushes World No. 6 Nestor to the limit
TOM TEBBUTT
Special to Globe and Mail

An aging reporter covering tennis is unlikely to be competitive with a world-class athlete playing it — unless a few adjustments are made.

Bobby Riggs, who was famous for playing Billie Jean King in the "battle of sexes" match in 1973, used to hustle people by playing while carrying an umbrella and/or setting out chairs as obstacles on his side of the net.

Making a match between Daniel Nestor, 34, and me — more than a couple of decades his senior — somewhat competitive required nothing more than forcing the lanky left-hander to play right-handed. And absolutely right-handed — there would be no putting his left hand on the racquet for the world No. 6 in doubles, a man who also, at one time or another, has beaten five former No. 1s — Stefan Edberg, Thomas Muster, Patrick Rafter, Marcelo Rios and Gustavo Kuerten — in singles.

I have known Daniel since before his memorable breakthrough Davis Cup victory as a 19-year-old over Edberg in 1992 in Vancouver and have always respected his professionalism in dealing with the media at events around the world.

At some point in the last year or two, I became aware that he occasionally played right-handed and challenged him to a game. We finally got it on yesterday at a club in Toronto on a clay court.

The match would only be one set because his right arm gets sore and he needs it to be healthy in order to earn a living hitting those two-handed backhand returns in doubles.

I was concerned about my chances because several people told me how good Daniel Nestor is right-handed, making it seem like a B-level club player like me would have no hope.

He showed up with his large Wilson racquet bag and Nike black and yellow trainers — the colour of his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers he said — before changing into tennis shoes.

I showed him my 20-year-old wide-body model racquet and he was surprised by how heavy it was.

We then headed out to the court and on a sunny but blustery afternoon. He served first and quickly was ahead 40-15. My plan was to hit off-pace (a euphemism for moonballs) shots to his backhand knowing that, if I had to play with my wrong hand, I could probably occasionally connect with a forehand but would be useless, and unable to generate power, on the backhand.

On the second point, I hit a well-placed shot to his backhand side but he nimbly stepped around it and whacked a forehand winner. "Oh, oh, I'm in trouble," I thought. But he missed a few and I somehow won the first game and the second and actually had two game points to lead 3-0. I began to have visions of winning 6-1 and him not exactly being at all thrilled to have agreed to play an old pusher, even if it was with his right hand.

On one of those points for 3-0, instead of hitting to his backhand I tried to smack a forehand winner and missed it wide by about a foot. "Big miss baby," Nestor teased from across the net.

It probably was, because he won the game but I held serve again to lead 3-1.

His serve was weak — he sort tapped it with a downward motion — and it came in soft and low. He later told me he could hit it harder but was worried about double-faulting.

I did try to attack his backhand by going to the net on the return but I got a tentative and stopped.

Leading 3-1, I was feeling good but thinking he would probably start playing better. His constant yammering away at himself and self-mocking laughter when he missed shots certainly showed that he was into it. He got back to 3-2 and then 3-3.

It was not completely intimidating playing him, even if his forehand had nice topspin and he seems to be able to direct it to wherever you ain't, his backhand was suspect.

I had been concerned that his vastly superior competitive experience (two Grand Slam doubles titles and an Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000) would show, and it gradually did as he coolly executed well on the big points even if he had just flubbed a couple in a row.

He held serve to lead 4-3 and when we changed sides, he trash-talked, "You are going have to be really mentally tough if you think you can come back now."

As far as his shots, at 6-foot-3 he gets up there for overheads, but he tended to slap at the ball rather than crunch it as he would with his left arm. Similarly with volleys (normally among the best in the world), he kind of 'pawed' the ball instead of sticking it as he would with his dominant hand.

He started duelling me with high, loopy deep shots before moving forward to the net. Doubt entered my mind and I felt an uncertainty flutter through me that I just couldn't shake. At 4-3 for him, I double-faulted to fall behind 15-30 and he immediately grinned and gibed, "that was a huge point."

A point or two later, he won a long rally featuring more moonballs and playfully bellowed, "I'm beating him at his own game, beating him at his own game."

He was, and soon led 5-3, 30-0. I was getting hammered and had that sick, sinking feeling you get when they know the end is nigh. But somehow I won that game and the next as I shook some off the nerves and he began to misfire.

At 5-5, he said, "Let's play a tiebreak, my arm is hurting."

I agreed. After all this is a guy who has earned $5,575,424 (U.S.) in career official prize money and is getting set to play doubles at European events in Stockholm, Madrid, Basel and Paris in the next four weeks. His right limb has better things to do than trade high-parabola puffballs with a hacker like me.

He began the tiebreak by hitting high-rollers, as Jimmy Connors used to call them, before going to the net where he put away my lame replies. Quickly it was 5-0 for him and, though I made a little rally, it ended 7-3.

Afterward, I wished I had not gone through a nervy period in mid-set and had tried to get to his backhand more often. But I'm still not sure that his savvy and natural athleticism would not have prevailed no matter what.

We had a nice little chat courtside and I said I owed him $50, the sum of a wager I had mentioned to him when we started setting up the match two weeks ago.

He said he did not remember us talking about it but I repeated, "No, we had a bet for fifty bucks."

"You don't owe me anything," he insisted. "Just get me a grape Gatorade."

I did and thought to myself, "What a gentleman — and not a half-bad right-handed tennis player as well."

[janie]

he loves the Pittsburgh Steelers??

[Brinyi]

Who doesn't?

[Lee]

grape Gatorade @@@@@@@@

YUCK

[Brinyi]

Nestor, Knowles end partnership in style
TOM TEBBUTT

Special to The Globe and Mail

November 19, 2007

A difficult, long goodbye ended on a high note yesterday for Daniel Nestor and Mark Knowles when they won their final match together, outclassing Simon Aspelin of Sweden and Julian Knowle of Austria 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the year-end Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai, China.

Nestor, of Toronto, and Knowles, of the Bahamas, have had frosty relations since Nestor announced in May that he would begin playing with Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia after Wimbledon in July.

Knowles was shocked and angry that a partnership dating back 13 years, with no more than a year or two apart, was ending.

Nestor said, "I felt I needed a change and wanted to see what it would be like playing with a new partner."

The strained relationship got more complicated after they won the French Open in June. There was a misunderstanding whether they had a commitment to remain together if they won a Grand Slam title.

Things got so convoluted that Knowles and Zimonjic eventually had to negotiate a compromise that resulted in Nestor staying with Knowles through the U.S. Open in September.

All the discord had only positive repercussions on court. After failing to win a title in their first 13 tournaments in 2007, they were victorious in three - the French Open, Queen's Club and Shanghai - of their past seven.

The partnership, which dates back to a victory in their first event, in Bogota in 1994, had rarely looked better, particularly yesterday when they totally dominated Aspelin and Knowle, winning 59 points to their opponent's 34.

That came as they reunited, after two months of playing with different partners, because they had previously qualified second in the standings for the eight-team grand finale.

Despite communication between them being minimal yesterday, Nestor and Knowles managed a celebratory leaping chest bump, initiated by Knowles, after Aspelin erred with a service return on the championship point.

"For whatever reason, it was a surprisingly good week as far as getting along," Nestor said by e-mail. "But, definitely, it's still awkward."

The pair, top seeds after the withdrawal of the No. 1 team, Bob and Mike (elbow injury) Bryan of the United States, shared the champions' cheque of $205,000 (all currency U.S.) and won their 40th tournament together.

It was Nestor's 50th career title and Knowles's 47th.

During the presentation ceremony, Nestor said: "We've had a very interesting year and it ended great. We're a great team and [Knowles] has carried me many years. Unfortunately, we're not going to be playing next year, but I just want to thank him for everything."

For his part, Knowles alluded to the friction between them, saying: "Believe it or not, I'd like to thank my partner. As he mentioned, it's been an interesting year. We'll leave the rest for the gossip tabloids."

Knowles, 36, will play with Mahesh Bhupathi of India in 2008.

For Nestor, 35, and Knowles, it was their first Masters Cup title in nine appearances.

Together, they won the 2002 Australian Open, 2004 U.S. Open and 2007 French Open and were the runners-up at Wimbledon in 2002 to Australians Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde."The fact that we knew our time together was limited made us make the most of our situation as far as focusing and being more intense," Nestor said of their recent success.

[sasha]

It was kinda sad watching them after they won the title. Dan didn't seem happy.

I'd like him to try singles again because he's a beloved bug server, but that won't happen.

[Brinyi]

Danny never seems happy. When he won the Olympic gold he looked like he lost his best friend.

[sasha]

Knowles is the one who shows no emotion. He's the cool surfer guy.

We really need doubles on more.

I hope Nestor pairs with Hanley. That could be a really good team.

[Brinyi]

sasha said:

Knowles is the one who shows no emotion. He's the cool surfer guy.

Nay. Knowles is extremely feisty and prone to very expressive and sometimes nasty outbursts.

[sasha]

He'll scream sometimes, but he tries to have that emotionless face all the time now. Which is boring. He used to be more nuts.

[Brinyi]

sasha said:

He'll scream sometimes, but he tries to have that emotionless face all the time now. Which is boring. He used to be more nuts.

No doubt he is attempting to emulate Daniel. Who wouldn't?

[Brinyi]

Nestor named Miele Davis Cup coach

Tennis Canada announced Tuesday that Daniel Nestor has been appointed as coach of the Miele Canadian Davis Cup team.

Nestor will represent Canada as both player and coach in the upcoming Americas Zone, Group I opening round Davis Cup by BNP Paribas tie between Canada and Mexico.

Nestor will be working in tandem with team captain Martin Laurendeau to ensure the team is well prepared against Mexico.

Nestor currently holds the records for most years played by a Canadian in Davis Cup (15), most wins (37), most doubles wins (22), most ties played (32) and best doubles team with Frederic Niemeyer (9-0).

[janie]

Congrats to him, but what has Miele got to do with it?

[Brinyi]

Canadian Daniel Nestor upset in second round at Australian Open


Melbourne, Australia — Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic exited the Australian Open on Friday after being upset 7-5, 6-4 by Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Oliver Marach of Austria in the second round.

Nestor, who has 55 doubles titles to his credit, won the tournament in 2002 with Mark Knowles. And he won six titles with Zimonjic last year, including Wimbledon, the Rogers Cup in Toronto and the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

Kubot and Marach, together since 2006, did not play together at the ATP level last season, but reached the third round in Melbourne in 2007.

"The played well, hitting the ball hard and making a lot of big shots," said Nestor, seeded first in the doubles. "We probably got a bit rattled at the end of the first set.

"It's not that we were expecting them not to play well, but it might have been too much thinking about them and not enough about playing our game and staying relaxed. They ran the table from 5-5 in the first set to 0-4 in the second, we tried to dig out of a hole but we couldn't."

Nestor, 36, and Zimonjic both became first-time fathers in December.

The Toronto left-hander said the baby is waiting at home, but first he has a mixed doubles challenge with Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que.

"I have other responsibilities now, but my mixed partner has been waiting to play for a few days. I have to give it my best."

"But we would have hoped to have done better."

The match lasted 98 minutes, with Nestor and Zimonjic converting just one of five break points. Their opponents were good on three of six.

Nestor, in his 15th Australian Open, made the quarter-finals last year at Melbourne and the semifinals the year before. He went out in the first round the two years before that.

[janie]

a little late, but ...

Toronto's Daniel Nestor out of U.S. Open after nasty doubles loss

(CP) – 1 day ago

NEW YORK — Canada's Daniel Nestor is out of the U.S. Open after an ill-tempered quarter-final loss in men's doubles action Tuesday.

The Toronto native and his Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic suffered a 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-0 loss to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel.

Nestor was furious with chair umpire Lynn Welch for not controlling what appeared to be a rowdy bunch who stood out in the sparely populated Grandstand stadium. They yelled and distracted in support of Mirnyi and Ram, which bothered Nestor and Zimonjic enough to complain.

"Your job is to say something, this is not Davis Cup," the 27-year-old Canadian told the chair. "There is something called sportsmanship."

He and the burly Ram then exchanged harsh words after the loss.

"I don't mind losing if we get beat," said Nestor. "But not losing if some guy in the crowd is acting like a jackass. I remember him from Cincinnati last year making the same kind of noises and clapping between serves.

"I got in his face about it and got a warning (fifth game of the third set). I asked Ram about it in the locker-room and he claimed not to know anything - said he was too focused on his game or something."

The final set scoreline marked the first 6-0 loss the Canadian had taken since he and former partner Mark Knowles were beaten by Bob and Mike Bryan in the New York semi-finals six years ago.

Nestor won the title here in 2004 with Knowles.

Nestor and Zimonjic, seeded second,. started the match on form claiming the opening set in 49 minutes in a tiebreaker.

They won after a double-fault from their opponents set up a trio of set point.

But the momentum shifted in the second as Zimonjic's volleys began to stray and Nestor was broken for 4-5 on a chance he set up with a double-fault.

Mirnyi and Ram levelled at a set each, with the Canadian-Serbian combination worn down by top play form their opponents and the jeering from the crowd.

The final set was a mere formality as Nestor and Zimonjic lost serve four times and failed on six break attempts against the opposition.