With sadness and emotion, the normally stoic Daniel Nestor said goodbye to the Olympic Games last night.

And thanks for the memories.

The defence of his tennis gold medal, four years later and with a lesser partner and a tougher early draw, was not to be.

Nestor, who normally saves his best for when he wears Canadian colours, was not at top level yesterday and had to overcome the flaws in partner Frederic Niemeyer's game.

APPRECIATION

He will leave Athens today with memories but no medal, and a deeper appreciation of how difficult winning can be.

He and partner Sebastien Lareau were one of only three gold-medal winners for Canada in the 2000 Games in Sydney and it will be nearly impossible for either wrestler Daniel Igali or triathlete Simon Whitfield to reach the ultimate prize here as well.

"Gold medals are hard to come by, especially for Canadians," Nestor said, standing courtside after he and Niemeyer were beaten 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 by the French team of Fabrice Santoro and Michael Llondra.

"There's a lot of pressure out there when you're playing for Canada and Canada's not doing that great and you are the defending champion."

It gets even more difficult when your partner is not of the the level of the other three players on the court.

Niemeyer half-joked before the competition that if the team won, it would because of Nestor and if it lost, it would be because of him.

He was partially correct.

"I didn't play great," the always deprecating Nestor said. "It was pretty tough to swallow."

In fairness, playing against the French team -- especially Santoro -- is like playing against a backboard. Everything gets returned.

"They made us play on every point," said Nestor, 31, who has competed in three Olympics for Canada. "They deserved to win."

The Canadians started slowly, getting down 3-0 in the opening set, before finding their legs in the second set. The hard-serving Niemeyer was broken in the sixth game of the third set, and the French team simply served out the match.

Nestor will leave Athens, possibly as early as today, to begin preparations for the U.S. Open, where he will play with his regular touring partner, Mark Knowles of the Bahamas. He wasn't sure there would be another Games in his future.

"I don't want to close the door on anything, but it looks that way," he said.

When asked what memories he will leave Athens with, he wasn't sure how to answer.

"It's tough to say," he said. "For me to be part of a team, it's nice. And I appreciate the support Canadians have given me all these years.

"In Sydney, we beat the best team in the world. We beat them in their own country.

"It's so tough to repeat."