By Canadian Press

Canadian tennis great Daniel Nestor back on Hall of Fame ballot

Sep 26, 2023 | 10:51 AM

NEWPORT, R.I. — Canadian tennis great Daniel Nestor was one of six players named to the ballot for the 2023 class of the International Tennis Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Nestor is one of five returning players to the ballot, along with Cara Black, Ana Ivanovic, Carlos Moya and Flavia Pennetta.

First-time nominee Leander Paes, the owner of 18 Grand Slam titles in men’s doubles or mixed doubles, is the first Asian man to be nominated in the player category

Nestor is an eight-time Grand Slam doubles champion and four-time mixed doubles Grand Slam winner in a career that spanned from 1991 to 2018.

The 51-year-old also won Olympic gold in 2000 and was the top-ranked doubles player for over 100 weeks. He won four ATP Tour finals doubles titles and was the first player to win 1,000 ATP doubles matches.

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The ballot for 2024 also includes two contributor category candidates: Vijay Amritraj and journalist Richard Evans.

Paes won career Grand Slams in both men’s doubles and mixed doubles and reached the No. 1 doubles ranking. His eight men’s doubles major championships — earned with four different partners — were spread out this way: three apiece at the French Open and U.S. Open, and one apiece at the Australian Open and Wimbledon.

“After three decades of passion for our sport and playing for 1.3-plus billion Indians in the Olympics and Davis Cup, I am thrilled that my hard work has been recognized,” said Paes, who is from India.

His mixed doubles Slam trophies came alongside various partners, including Martina Navratilova, Martina Hingis and Black.

Li Na, a Chinese woman who won two Grand Slam singles titles, became the first Asian player in the shrine based in Newport, Rhode Island, when she was inducted in 2019.

Black, Ivanovic, Moya, Nestor and Pennetta all fell short of the required 75 per cent of the vote in past balloting from the official voting group — which includes media, historians, Hall of Famers and industry experts — and bonus percentage points awarded based on a fan vote. Nominees can remain in contention for three years.

This year’s online fan voting for the player category runs from Wednesday to Oct. 9.

The Hall’s Class of 2023 members — wheelchair star Esther Vergeer and quad division pioneer Rick Draney — were enshrined in July.

— With files from The Canadian Press.

The Associated Press