Daniel Nestor shares career's worth of talent for Ottawa charity

Canadian tennis champion Daniel Nestor is in Ottawa this weekend to share some of the wisdom that earned him 12 Grand Slam titles and Olympic gold over his career. 

On Saturday, Nestor will hold tennis clinics and play with a select group of local pros and celebrities including Daniel Alfredsson as part of Double Up for Mental Health, in support of The Royal Ottawa Foundation for Mental Health.

On Friday, Nestor was the guest of honour at a reception dinner before the Cooper Brothers played a concert..

[I'm] definitely looking forward to lending some experience to kids. That's one thing I really cherish now.​​​​- Daniel Nestor

The recent tennis hall of famer is now easing into his retirement.  He says he's happy to be able to spend time at home with his family. His opponent on the court these days is usually his daughter.

He's also had to make some big adjustments. A few months ago he suffered a serious eye injury that left him with some permanent loss of vision in his right eye.

"Playing tennis moving forward is not going to be much fun," he said. "[But] I can still play and I can still coach and that is the most important thing."

Nestor got hit when a ball ricocheted off someone's racket straight into his eye. "I wasn't prepared for it," the tennis star said.

Despite the injury, he'll still be able to share his insights with up and coming players. Nestor said there are so many great young players out there now. 

"[I'm] definitely looking forward to lending some experience to kids," he said. "That's one thing I really cherish now."

Nestor is by far Canada's most decorated tennis player, and was inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame in 2018.