THE CANADIAN PRESS
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands -- The third time was indeed the charm for Canadian Daniel Nestor and Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic.
Nestor, of Toronto, and Zimonjic earned their first doubles title of the season Sunday, defeating Czech Lukas Dlouhy and India's Leander Paes 6-2, 7-5 at the Rotterdam Open.
Nestor and Zimonjic had lost in previous tournament finals appearances in Doha and Sydney last month before exiting in the second round of the Australian Open.
But Sunday's victory was the sixth career title for the pair since they started playing doubles together in 2008. For Nestor it was his 56th tournament victory overall while the 24th for his partner.
"This is the best I've played here since 2002," said Nestor, who lost in a final to Roger Federer and Max Mirnyi seven years ago. "It good to get that first title of the season. Hopefully this is just the start for us now.
"We were very displeased with our performance in Melbourne and maybe this helps make up for that just a bit. I've never really played well in Rotterdam over the past years, so I'm happy we could win this one."
Second-seeded Andy Murray of Scotland beat injured Rafael Nadal of Spain 6-3, 4-6, 6-0 to become the first British winner of the singles crown.
The top-ranked Nadal was bothered by a right knee injury and had to call a medical timeout in the second set, before deciding to continue the match.
"Rafael was hurt at the beginning of the second set," Murray said. "On one leg he could still go on. That's how good he is."
Murray took the first set after breaking Nadal in the sixth game, but the Spaniard fought back in the second. He struggled, however, with his serve in the third set because of his knee and Murray was able to seal the win with an ace.
Britain's Tim Henman was runner-up here three times, losing the 1999, 2000 and 2002 finals.
Zimonjic's serve set the pace in the doubles final on the fast indoor hardcourt, with the top seeds starting with an early break for a 3-1 lead.
Nestor salvaged a pair of break points to give his squad a 5-2 lead before they took the opening set in 28 minutes with a second break of Paes.
The second set was tighter but Nestor again was forced to salvage serve for a 4-3 lead, a game which ended with the Canadian registering an ace.
But there would be no comeback for second seeds Dlouhy and Paes as Nestor and Zimonjic went on to take the second set and finals sweep.
Nestor is expected to return to Toronto on Monday before leaving for a tournament in Dubai on Thursday.
"It's a lot of flying but it's worth it for a quick visit," he said. "We want to be ready for Dubai and try and continue this new momentum."
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