Daniel Nestor Not Stopping at 40

Written by: on 12th June 2012
Tennis French Open 2012
Daniel Nestor Not Stopping at 40

epa03256840 Max Mirnyi (L) of Belarus and Daniel Nestor of Canada celebrate with their trophies after winning the Men's doubles final match against Bob and Mike Bryan of the USA for the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, France, 09 June 2012. EPA/CHRISTOPHE KARABA  |

Even though he will turn 40 in a few months, Canada’s Daniel Nestor sees no reason to hang up his rackets anytime soon. Nestor and his partner Max Mirnyi repeated as Roland Garros doubles champion, stopping Bob and Mike Bryan from winning their record 12th major.

“I feel fortunate, because I think when I played singles and when I was younger I had a few injuries, especially with my left arm,” said Nestor. “The last few years, for whatever reason, I have been pretty much pain free, so I can serve as hard as I can and hit the ball as hard as I can. That makes a big difference. There were a lot of times early in my career where I would be in a lot of pain and I couldn’t play the way I wanted to. A lot of that had to do with singles being definitely more stressful than doubles. It’s doubles. It’s half the court. It’s not physically that demanding. I think it’s possible for people in their 40s to keep playing.”

However, Nestor whose daughter is a toddler doesn’t see himself playing until the age of 44. While he and Mirnyi have seized the No. 1 ranking from the Bryans, eventually, he realizes that he will slow down. When asked whether he’ll compete at the 2016 Olympics, he called it a “big stretch.”

But raising the big trophies still tastes sweet for now.

“I love competing,” said Nestor who owns eight Grand Slam titles. “I love playing in the big tournaments and challenging myself to play against the best. I really enjoy playing the Grand Slams especially, and trying to play my best in those tournaments, and maybe make up for some things I didn’t do as well when I was younger, like playing the big moments well, and now I feel like I’m doing a little bit better.”

Topics: , , , , , ,








10sBalls Top Stories

In Case You Missed It

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA thumbnail

EUGENIE BOUCHARD NAMED 2018 TENNIS CANADA FEMALE PLAYER OF THE YEAR / EUGENIE BOUCHARD NOMMÉE JOUEUSE DE L’ANNÉE 2018 DE TENNIS CANADA

Tennis Canada announced on Wednesday that Eugenie Bouchard is the winner of the 2018 Excellence Awards in the Female Player of the Year and Singles Player of the Year categories.
TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS • TOMMY HAAS, TAYLOR FRITZ, STEVE JOHNSON, MARDY FISH AND MORE

Time to get tickets to watch! Surly you have heard about The Largest Open Tennis Event in America!
TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER thumbnail

TENNIS NEWS • RAFA NADAL CONFIRMS RETURN TO PRACTICE, EYES ABU DHABI EXHIBITION AND AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

According to Uncle Toni, Rafael Nadal was supposed to be back at practice on either Dec. 4 or 5. Well, better late than never!
Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife thumbnail

Conchita Martínez prepara la temporada 2019 de Karolina Pliskova en Tenerife

Española y checa ya trabajaron juntas durante el pasado Open de Estados Unidos
ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS thumbnail

ALEJANDRO’S FAVORITE PHOTOS FOR 10SBALLS FROM SOME OF THIS YEAR’S TOURNAMENTS

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia hits a forehand to Kaia Kanepi of Estonia during her second round match at the Nature Valley International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, Great Britain, on Tuesday, June 26, 2018.