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TRACY WILSON & ROB MCCALL TROPHY
for Outstanding Pairs Team
Sébastien Lareau and Daniel Nestor - Tennis
Nominated by Tennis Canada
Sébastien Lareau of Mont-Royal, Qué., and Daniel Nestor of Toronto pulled off a huge upset at the 2000 Olympic Games, defeating heavily favoured defending champions Mark Woodforde and Todd Woodbridge of Australia. Given their impressive play throughout the season--they came to Sydney with a 22-6 record--the victory shouldn't have been much of a surprise, except perhaps to the cocky Aussie home crowd.
The Canadians joined forces in May to make a serious run at an Olympic medal. Solid play in Davis Cup action demonstrated the wisdom of the decision as they defeated Argentina to maintain Canada's standing in Group 1. At the Tennis Masters Series-Canada Event, playing near flawlessly before 10,000 flag-waving fans, they registered the biggest win of their partnership. It was the first major title won by a Canadian team on home turf since 1968. At the US Open and the French Open, they advanced to the quarterfinal. At Wimbledon, Lareau, an accomplished serve returner, and Nestor, a hard-serving left-hander, went down to a five-set quarterfinal defeat at the hands of the Woodies, and went to Sydney to extract revenge.
Bolstered by their strong singles play--Lareau dispatched Michael Chang and Nestor upset Aussie favourite Patrick Rafter--they breezed through doubles play, knocking off Brazil, Venezuela, Germany, and South Africa without dropping a set. In the final, overcoming intense pressure, "we just went out and played some really good tennis," said Lareau. "Going against the best team in the world in their hometown with 10,000 people against you, and playing for your country and trying to win the medal, it was a lot (of pressure)." They came back from losing the first set to win the next three, and Lareau and Nestor were Olympic champions.
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