Nestor's golden moment fading from memory By Steve Simmons, SUN MEDIA

BEIJING - With time and opportunities passing, the golden moment for Daniel Nestor at the Olympic Games almost seems like a lifetime ago.

There has been no Olympic follow up. There has been nothing even close.

For the second consecutive Olympic Games, the team of Nestor and Frederic Niemeyer proved to be first-round fodder in the Olympic men’s doubles tennis tournament.

The No. 1 doubles player in the world, targeted by the Canadian Olympic Committee as a serious medal contender in these Games, was knocked out by the Great Britain tandem of Andy Murray and his lesser known brother, Jamie, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

The early elimination of Nestor and Niemeyer is a blow to Canada’s medal hopes, with no likely first medal on the horizon any time before Wednesday. “Our major objective was to get a medal,” said Canadian coach Martin Laurendeau. “That’s what makes this so disappointing.”

After combining with partner Sebastien Lareau in Sydney eight years ago, there has been much attention on Nestor at the two Olympics since. But in both cases, his partner was Niemeyer and in both cases they were first-round casualties of the draw.

The real challenge for the Olympic team and for Tennis Canada was to find the right partner for the usually impressive Nestor. That was the difficulty.

In each case, Niemeyer was chosen as the best possible partner for Nestor but watching him play doubles with Nestor is a lot like watch a great dancer with a limping partner. The chemistry and the rhythm just isn’t there.

“Daniel is No. 1 in the world and there’s not too many players of his calibre to begin with,” said Laurendeau. “He’s practically a living legend. Playing with him is a tough spot to put anyone. Any partner is going to have trouble matching up.

“If (Niemeyer) wins it’s because of Daniel. If they lose, it’s because of who he played with. It’s a difficult situation for any player to be in.”

The Murray brothers certainly took advantage of Niemeyer’s inconsistency and his inability to win on serve. After winning the first set, Niemeyer’s service was broken three times in the second set, an unlikely occurrence for play at this level.

Niemeyer’s serve was the undoing on the team once again in the third set. Trailing 5-4 and having broken Jamie Murray’s serve, the momentum had swung back to the Canadians.

But again, Niemeyer couldn’t hold serve. That time it cost Canada the match.

“I don’t think I served to my potential,” said Niemeyer.

Neither did Nestor.

And while the Canadians credited the Murray brothers with fine play, they weren’t necessarily impressed.

“It wasn’t the best performance of all time,” said Jamie Murray. “Hopefully we’ll get better next round.”

The team of Nestor and Niemeyer were also thrown off by a British television commentator who displayed no tennis decorum. His broadcast was so loud it was continuously heard by players on the court.

At one point, Niemeyer “shhhhhd.” the announcer and after losing a point, Nestor screamed out loud “shut up.”

Nestor, who has been to four Olympic Games, did not rule out a fifth. He said he would continue to play tennis so long as he remains competitive.

In preparation for the upcoming U.S. Open, Nestor will leave Beijing, possibly as early as Monday, and begin practicing with partner, Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia, once he returns from the Olympics.