Canadians Daniel Nestor (R) and Vasek Pospisil in action during man's doubles semifinals match against Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez of Spain the Rio Olympics August 11, 2016.John Lehmann/The Globe and Mail
It wasn't the final Olympic chapter that Daniel Nestor had dreamed about.
Despite a semifinal loss on Thursday, Toronto's Nestor and Vancouver's Vasek Pospisil were in a good position to become the first Canadian men to win a medal at the Rio Olympics. But the duo fell 6-2, 6-4 in the men's tennis doubles bronze-medal match on Friday to Americans Steve Johnson and Jack Sock.
The loss left a sour taste in Nestor's mouth.
"Obviously, it doesn't feel so well," said Nestor. "But hats off to them. They played very well, seeing the ball big and putting a lot of pressure on us. We couldn't match it.
"It's a little bit upsetting right now, ending in fourth place after being in a medal position yesterday and walking away with nothing."
Nestor, a men's doubles gold medal winner at the 2000 Sydney Games with Sebastien Lareau, thinks that their tough straight-sets loss in the semis to eventual champions Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez of Spain had nothing to do with Friday's bronze loss on court No. 1 at the Olympic Tennis Centre.
"No, not at all. We were ready, they were better than us," said Nestor.
Johnson and Sock were over 80 per cent on their first serves, winning 86 per cent of their first-service points, compared to 63 per cent for Nestor and Pospisil. The Canadians committed a number of unforced errors, particularly in the first set.
The Americans also took advantage of Nestor and Pospisil's service game, breaking the Canadians on three of nine attempts. Johnson and Sock never faced a break point.
Nestor said their semifinal loss hurt more than the defeat to the U.S.
"It was more emotional yesterday — close match, tough loss, tough situations in that match. Today, it didn't feel like we had much of a chance," said Nestor.
It was the sixth Olympics for Nestor while Pospisil was competing in his second. The two men were eliminated in the fourth round of the London 2012 Games.