Andy Murray and Maria Sharapova are two of the players set to take part in a special ceremony to mark the career of Daniel Nestor.
Nestor, 45, will be honoured with a two-part celebration at Roy Thomson Hall on Sunday, August 5. The first part of the Game. Set. Match. Daniel Nestor fundraising gala event will be a comedy roast of the Canadian. The night will be hosted by comedian Shaun Majumder and sportscaster Caroline Cameron. After that, a formal ceremony will take place where Nestor will be inducted into Canadian Tennis’ Hall of Fame. Money raised from the event will be put into a fund named in Nestor’s honour. It will be used to help develop the next generation of Canadian tennis players.
“I don’t know what the other guys will come up with — I’m actually interested to see what they say,” Nestor told thestar.com. “And I have quite a bit prepared for them. I’m hoping they at least come up with something good, because otherwise I’m going to feel kind of bad.”
The former world No.1 doubles player will retire from the tour later this year. Next month he will play in the Rogers Cup for the 30th and final time in his career. He made his debut at the tournament back in 1989. It will gets underway the day after his charity event.
“It’s a lot easier (to retire) when your level’s not good enough anymore,” explained Nestor, who is currently ranked 125th in the world for doubles.
“Day in, day out — I’ve noticed different things that I’m not doing the same. There was a time where I felt like I was the best player on the court a lot of the time … but that’s definitely changed.”
“It’s something I’ve gotten used to and accepted.”
Nestor is one of his country’s most successful tennis player’s of all time. He has won a total of 91 doubles titles on the ATP World Tour. Including 28 Masters 1000 trophies, eight grand slams, four year-end championships and one gold medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics. On top of that, he has also won four grand slam titles in the mixed doubles. In 2009 he became the first player in history to win titles at all four grand slams and nine Masters events.
In the Davis Cup, the veteran has played in 52 ties. More than any other Canadian player in the history of the tournament. Winning a total of 48 matches for his country.
Nestor is currently the second oldest player on the tour to have a ATP Ranking. The oldest is India’s Leander Paes, who is just a month older than him.
