An ode to Daniel Nestor and his longevity
After a career spanning 28 years, one of the greatest doubles players of all-time - Daniel Nestor officially called it quits after notching up an astonishing 1062 doubles wins. Nestor was the epitome of longevity in tennis and retired at the ripe age of 46, long after many of his contemporaries bid their goodbyes. In a fitting tribute to this icon of modern-day tennis, Tennis Canada inducted him in an on-court ceremony into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame soon after he played his final match.
Coming to the numbers, Nestor won a jaw-dropping 91 career doubles titles (only behind the Bryan twins) including a sweep of all the Grand Slams. He also won 4 tour finals titles as well as the doubles Gold at the Sydney Olympics with partner Sebastian Lareau. Adding to his long list of accomplishments were 28 ATP Masters doubles titles (again behind only the Bryan twins). He also won 4 Grand Slams in the mixed doubles category.
In a career which began in the professional circuit way back in 1991, Daniel Nestor had 76 partners in doubles and 26 partners in mixed doubles. He won a staggering 1062 matches on tour (6th in the all-time list), won titles with 43 different partners in 38 different countries. Nestor won at least 1 title in 23 consecutive years from 1994 to 2016. He was the first player in doubles history to win all Grand Slams, all Masters series events including the year-end Championships as well as Gold in the Olympics. All these staggering numbers lay credence to his dedication and longevity in tennis.
With Nestor's retirement, there are only a handful of his doubles contemporaries still competing - the Bryan brothers and Leander Paes. It indeed marked the end of a glorious career and hopefully, Daniel Nestor will continue to mentor many youngsters in the future and inspire many generations of tennis professionals.