Daniel Nestor, Vasek Pospisil hopeful for Olympic success after Rogers Cup

TORONTO — Vasek Pospisil could be forgiven for not remembering when Canada won gold in men’s doubles at the Olympic Games. He was only 10 years old, after all.

“Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I remembered… I was too young maybe,” said Pospisil. “I obviously know he won the medal, but I don't have a memory of watching that match.

“Sorry, Danny,” he added.

Danny, otherwise known as Daniel Nestor, who was sitting next to Pospisil during their Rogers Cup press conference took no offence.

“That's all right,” responded his elder partner, who was one half of that gold-medal winning pair.

Nestor’s Olympic gold 16 years ago with then-partner Sebastien Lareau at the Sydney Games still remains the only Olympic medal Canada has won in tennis. But in less than a week, both Nestor and Pospisil will have the chance to go for gold — and form lasting memories — in Rio.

A few weeks ago, Canada’s top player Milos Raonic made the surprising announcement that he had decided against competing in Rio.

No surprise, however, was the man picked to replace him.

Nestor, the elder statesman of Canadian tennis, would step in and play in the doubles event with Pospisil. It would be Nestor’s sixth — sixth! — Olympic Games, his first coming 20 years ago in the 1996 Atlanta Games.

To gear up for the Olympics, Nestor and Pospisil teamed up at the Rogers Cup this past week in Toronto. The two hadn’t played together since a Davis Cup match last year, but quickly found a rhythm on the courts at York University's Aviva Centre.

After a first-round bye, they beat Nick Kyrgios and Jack Sock — Pospisil’s regular doubles partner for the better part of two years — in their second-round match, followed by a win over the Czech duo of Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek - with whom Nestor reached the Australian Open final at the beginning of the year.

“The good thing about playing together this week (is) the fact we have won a few matches, because, you know, (it) gives us a little bit of confidence and momentum that we have won back-to-back matches together. I think that's something we can kind of ride going into Rio because usually when we play we just play one event, one match sometimes,” Pospisil said, following their quarter-final win against Berdych-Stepanek.

Nestor, a future hall of famer and doubles legend, has played with dozens of partners over the span of his 25-year career —for context he’s already teamed up with seven different players this season alone — but says he achieves chemistry with Pospisil easily.

“It's tough with certain partners, but as I said, he's one of the best,” Nestor said of Pospisil. “When you play with someone who understands doubles, a great athlete and a great ball striker and moves great, that makes it a lot easier. So, I mean, I think there is partners over the years you gel with right away and he's one of them.”

In their semifinal in front of a packed Centre Court, Pospisil and Nestor fell to the No. 2 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in three sets, ending their Rogers Cup campaign earlier than they would have liked.

But after the loss, Nestor recalled a similar experience 16 years ago that helped him and Lareau. Back in 2000, Nestor and Lareau lost in the quarter-finals at the U.S. Open prior to the Olympic Games that year. That loss lit a fire under the pair.

"I felt like we left a lot out there, Lareau and I," he recalled. "We really, you know, came together when it mattered most for the Olympics. And maybe today, maybe we feel like we left a little bit out there, and maybe, you know, we'll bring our best when it's most important there (in Rio)."

But even a semifinal run in the lead-up event to the Olympics bodes well for the Canadian team that has a chance to medal at the event, and will surely be looking to improve on their second-round exit in London four years ago.

While this Olympic Games will be Nestor's sixth, it'll only be Pospisil's second. Four years ago, he was unable to take in much of the atmosphere. This time, he hopes that changes.

"I would love to see Usain Bolt. That would be amazing," he said. "If I'd have to say one event I'd really want to see live, it would be the 100-meter final race."

As for Nestor, he said he's excited about competing again — but he has one reservation.

"Yeah, it's exciting, as I said, to play with Vasek and another opportunity to win a medal,” he said. “Being 20 years older than everyone else at the (Games) doesn't excite me and that kind of stuff is a little bit embarrassing at the same time.”

As Nestor finished his sheepish response, Pospisil interjected.

“He said that in the locker room and, I mean, it's an incredible accomplishment to play six Olympic Games,” Pospisil said, offering praise to his modest partner.

“A little bit embarrassing?” Nestor asked.

“No,” Pospisil said, before relenting a little. “Five per cent embarrassing, 95 per cent incredible accomplishment.”