Daniel Nestor

Nestor, Hunter Ousted in Australia

January 22, 2008

Though playing in different events at the Australian Open, both Daniel Nestor (Toronto) and Sarah Hunter (White Rock, BC) suffered the same fate on day nine of the major event.

In men’s doubles, Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic were eliminated in their quarter-final match against Arnaud Clement and Michael Llodra. There were only two service breaks throughout the match and both went in favour of the Frenchmen as they were victorious by a score of 6-4, 6-4. On the bright side, new partners Nestor and Zimonjic seem to be playing better as a team each time they step onto the court.

Playing in the Super Series Australian Open, Hunter was forced to play world No.1 David Wagner (USA) in the first round of the quad division singles. While she pushed Wagner to the limit by winning the second set, she ultimately fell out of the competition early with a 2-6, 6-0, 5-7 loss. Hunter, fourth in the world, is the only Canadian wheelchair player ranked high enough to qualify for any of the main draws at the event. She is also set to play doubles with British partner Peter Norfolk. The pair will face off against Johan Andersson (Sweden) and Dorrie Timmermens-van Hall (Netherlands) in their first match.

In Junior Australian Open action, the boys’ doubles face-off between Canadians Milos Raonic and Vasek Pospisil saw Pospisil and partner Cesar Ramirez eliminate Raonic and Bradley Klahn in a very competitive match. Raonic and Klahn stormed out of the gates stunning the No.2 seeds by taking the first set 6-2 in just 21 minutes. Pospisil and Ramirez were able to squeak out the second set in a tiebreak winning 7-6(8). With a berth in the quarter-finals on the line, it came down to a super-tiebreak. Pospisil and Ramirez walked away with a 10-8 victory and the chance to play No.6 seeds Soong-Jae Cho (Korea) and Ty D. Trombetta (USA) in the quarters.