Canada's Nestor and Pospisil optimistic about Olympic doubles chances

By John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press

Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil can't remember when Canada won its only Olympic medal in tennis.

Awkwardly for Pospisil, his doubles partner Daniel Nestor can. That's because Nestor was one half of the tandem that won doubles gold at the 2000 Sydney Games.

"I'd be lying if I said I remembered," Pospisil said on Saturday. "I don't like to BS, so I don't have any memories. I was too young maybe, I don't know. I was 10, but I just don't — I mean, I obviously know he won the medal, but I don't have a memory of watching that match."

A sheepish Pospisil turned to his partner on the stage at the Rogers Cup: "Sorry Danny."

"That's all right," said Nestor, who assured reporters that he does, in fact, remember winning gold.

The 43-year-old player from Toronto won Canada's only Olympic medal in tennis with Montreal's Sebastien Lareau. Since then, Nestor has put together one of the best doubles careers in history, winning over 1,000 matches including eight Grand Slam men's titles and two in mixed doubles with a variety of partners.

Pospisil, 26, won Wimbledon's doubles championship in 2014 with American Jack Sock.

The Canadian pair formed on July 21 after Milos Raonic of Thornhill, Ont., backed out of the Rio Olympics citing health concerns including the Zika virus. Raonic was originally supposed to pair with Pospisil, but Nestor has stepped up for his sixth Olympic appearance.

"It's maybe not as exciting for the athlete that's going for the first or second time," said Nestor. "It's exciting for me because I think we have a chance to win a medal, so for that reason I will be very focused and we'll do everything possible to play our best in the tournament and just focus on that."

Nestor and Pospisil teamed together at the 2012 London Olympics and also in Davis Cup play, but are still working on building their team chemistry. With that in mind, they partnered at the Rogers Cup in Toronto where they made the semifinals, losing to Great Britain's Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares 6-4, 6-7 (5), 10-7.

"We feel fine. I mean, we played some good matches. You know, we didn't play our best but we played well," said Nestor. "I don't think we had any doubts about anything, which is good. I think it's just a matter of executing."

The Canadians like their chances at a medal for the Olympics, not just because they have a wealth of experience between them, but because the field is wide open, especially with the exit of American twins Bob and Mike Bryan, the world No. 1 pairing, over health concerns.

"I feel like it's a little bit more open now," said Pospisil, noting that the Bryans haven't been as dominant in recent years. "[The Bryans] are one of the contending teams that's pulled out so that's good for other teams, but it's not like a shocking, like an incredible opportunity now.

"I think there are a lot of teams that are playing well right now that are gold-medal contenders."