THE CANADIAN PRESS
NEW YORK -- Top-seeded Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic crashed out of the U.S. Open in a third-round upset Monday, going down to Finn Jarkko Nieminen and Robert Lindstedt of Sweden 6-4, 6-7 (13), 6-2.
The end came as a Nestor volley slid along the net cord, bouncing on the Canadian's side of the net to end in heartbreak after two and a half hours.
The defeat matched a third-round ouster which Nestor took here in 2006 when the Toronto native and partner Mark Knowles were eliminated at the same stage.
Nestor and Knowles won the tournament in 2004, but lost in the first round a year later in their title defence.
Nestor said the gruelling season -- which included an appearance at the Beijing Olympics last month -- is taking a toll on the duo.
"We fought through the whole event, we've been hanging on," said Nestor. "Maybe it's the long season, we've played a lot of matches and we're mentally tired.
"We could be a little burnt out, things seem more difficult than they should be. That's how we felt, we were trying very hard but it didn't happen."
Nestor and Zimonjic, together since last autumn and the top-ranked team on the ATP, made a narrow escape to avoid a straight-set loss as they survived a tight second set.
But Zimonjic's double-fault to lose serve in the third, handing over a 4-2 lead spelled the beginning of the end for the top seeds.
Nestor began the match on a low note, dropping serve in the third game, a margin which the European opponents maintained to lift the opening set.
But the Canadian, who turns 36 on Thursday, made amends to start the second as he served out a love game to put his side into a 1-0 lead.
The Wimbledon and Rogers Cup champions seized the momentum on a sunny afternoon with Nestor's convincing hold for 3-2, with Zimonjic keeping up the rhythm.
The seeds got into more trouble as Nestor lost serve in the ninth game, but the team got it straight back with a break of Nieminen. As the tight set went into a tiebreaker, Nestor and Zimonjic saved a pair of match points.
The Canadian's side finally secured the set to keep his team alive as Zimonjic smashed over a winner to square it at a set each.
Nestor said the untimely loss won't damage the team's confidence.
"We've had a great run and we want the success to continue," said Nestor. "It's not from a lack of form or being overconfident. We're working hard, it just didn't happen.
"I don't see why we won't stay among the top teams for awhile."
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