Successful Doubles Team is Breaking Up

Written by: Staff on 13th October 2010

Successful Doubles Team is Breaking Up

Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) |

Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic may be ranked as the world’s second best doubles team and be the reigning French Open champions but the Canadian and the Serb have decided to go their separate ways at the end of 2010.

Things have not exactly been harmonious between Nestor and Zimonjic since they lost to the obscure British team of Chris Eaton and Dominic Inglot in the second round of Wimbledon this summer. The duo had won the All England Club title in the two preceding years.

With the players all in it to win it, prize money makes a difference. And at the top of the ATP double heap, a few slack months can mean a drop in income. While not completely emphasizing the monetary aspect, the 38-year-old Nestor did not hesitate to spell out the bottom line: “There are no hard feelings, in the end it’s about business anyway.”

Zimonjic, aged 34, will next year team up with Frenchman Michael Llodra while 38 year-old Nestor is expected to begin a new partnership with the veteran Belarussian Max Mirnyi which, in the roundabout of men’s doubles, would apparently leave Mahesh Bhupathi searching for a new ally.

“I think it’s a good move,” said six times Grand Slam champion Nestor, who broke up a longstanding partnership with Mark Knowles in order to team up with Zimonjic at the end of 2007. “It came from him but it’s something I’ve definitely thought about, too. Unfortunately, I never acted on it because I didn’t see better options.”

There was a distinct Serbian harmony between Nestor, who was aged just four his parents emigrated from Belgrade to Toronto, and Zimonjic. The soon-to-part-team, amassed five titles in the first half of 2010 but have not even managed to reach a final in the last eight events.

“We’ve been battling some inconsistency this year,” added Nestor. “In years past, we’d struggle to get through the first round, but when we did we’d start rolling. But for the last few tournaments it’s been a different trend. We’ve gotten through but then lost the next matches.”

Nestor and Zimonjic, currently second doubles seeds at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, will play out the rest of 2010 season together at events in Vienna, Basel, the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris and Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Thereafter Nestor is optimistic about his partnership with 33 year-old Mirnyi. “It’s not like there’s a whole lot of guys sitting there waiting, guys you can win a Grand Slam with,” he said. “Max has always been someone that I’ve thought about playing with. He’s very level-headed. On the court he’s got a good personality, nothing fazes him. Even if he’s in the right and there’s a bad call, you’re not going to see him breaking rackets.”

Topics: Chris Eaton, Daniel Nestor, Doubles Team, England Club, French Open, Grand Slam Champion, Inconsistency, Inglot, Longstanding Partnership, Mahesh Bhupathi, Mark Knowles, Max Mirnyi, Michael Llodra, Nenad Zimonjic, No Hard Feelings, Open Champions, Prize Money, Separate Ways, Serb, Six Times