Canadian Tennis Success

Daniel Nestor didn't win the Lou Marsh Award today, which means the best Canadian tennis player ever probably never will.

After all, if winning the Wimbledon men's doubles competition for the second straight year doesn't do it, well, what would?

At 37, Nestor is still cooking along, waiting for the next generation of Canadian tennis talent to mature and begin to succeed on the international scene.

A positive sign in that regard occurred on the weekend when Ottawa's Gabriela Dabrowski, 17, became the first Canadian female to win the prestigious Orange Bowl junior tournament in Miami in 27 years. Carling Bassett-Seguso did it in 1982, and that turned out to be a springboard towards a solid pro career.

Dabrowski, ranked 48th in the world, defeated the world's top junior, France's Kristina Mladenovic, in the under-18 final by a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 score. Dabrowski's victory was an encouraging result for Tennis Canada's centres of excellence program, which is seeking to develop more world-class players.

Comments

[Tennis Fan]

It's ridiculous that Nestor has never won this award. He may not just be the best Canadian doubles player ever; he may be the best doubles player ever from any country. Nestor has won an amazing 5 grand slams and even more remarkable is that he has won at each of Australian, U.S Open, French Open and Wimbledon on all the different court surfaces. Nestor has also won Olympic gold. He has amassed an incredible 64 doubles titles. No other active Canadian athlete can match this track record of success. Coming off back to back Wimbledon titles should have garnered Nestor the Lou Marsh award. I wonder if Tennis Canada did anything to promote Nestor for the award and educate some of the sports writers who do not follow tennis about his accomplishments. If they did not then a great opportunity has been missed to recognize a remarkable Canadian tennis player.

[Miss Molly]

I think the only thing ever holding Nestor back is his laid back personality. It's a shame because how many 37 year olds are at the top of their game like he is? He may not have won this or many other awards but I, and other hard core tennis fans think he's fantastic and I couldn't be more proud of all that he's done in his career.