RIO DE JANEIRO — Canada’s Daniel Nestor will attempt to win Olympic medals 16 years apart, after he and partner Vasek Pospisil lost to Spain in the men’s doubles semifinals at the Olympic Tennis Centre. The Canadians now advance to the bronze-medal match.
Nestor, who won doubles gold with Sebastian Lareau at Sydney in 2000, and Pospisil, who won the men’s doubles title at Wimbledon last year with American partner Jack Sock, lost to Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez 7-6 (1), 7-6 (3).
The match was as close as the score indicated, with the tiebreak in the first set the only instance where one team asserted dominance. Otherwise, it was back and forth tennis all match. In the tiebreak in the second set, Spain took a two-point lead when Pospisil hit his partner in the back with a shot from the baseline. Pospisil followed with a double fault, and Nadal and Lopez were able to close it out a few points later.
Nestor is only in Brazil as a result of the late withdrawal of Milos Raonic, who cited concerns about his health and the Zika virus as his reason for skipping the Olympics.
With that decision, Tennis Canada swapped in Nestor, an eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion who has played with Pospisil before in the Davis Cup. The Canadian pair were on a roll coming into the match, but the Spainards were able to handle their big serves.
Nestor and Pospisil will face the American team of Sock and Steve Johnson in the bronze-medal match.