Canadian Daniel Nestor will team up with India’s doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi in 2013. “Mahesh is eager and I’ve had a lot respect for his accomplishments over the years,” Nestor is quoted in a blog post by Canadian writer Tom Tebbitt.
“He’s a great doubles player and has great doubles instincts. I feel that if he can make the transition well to the other side (the deuce court), we can be a very good team.”
Nestor and Max Mirnyi from Belarus partnered in men’s doubles for two years and decided to split at 2012 season end due to the latter’s elbow injury. Both won two French Open doubles titles and were ranked number one on ATP Doubles Tour. “Max isn’t confirmed to play a full season next year, he’s a little bit sceptical about his elbow. It’s a little bit hard for me to wait until the last second to see what he’s going to do. So I just decided to switch.”
Bhupathi teamed up with younger Rohan Bopanna this year, with an eye on gaining enough ranking points for direct entry into men’s doubles at London Olympics. Bopanna had broken up a successful and high-profile partnership with Pakistan’s Aisam Qureshi to heed senior Bhupathi’s call, keeping a first-ever Olympic medal in sight.
