THE CANADIAN PRESS
BASEL, Switzerland — Canadian Daniel Nestor came up short in his bid for a fourth career Swiss Indoors title as he and Belarusian partner Max Mirnyi dropped a 6-4, 7-5 decision to Michael Llodra of France and Serbia’s Nenad Zimonjic.
Nestor won the Swiss crown in 2003 and 2006 with Mark Knowles of the Bahamas and lifted it in 2009 with Zimonjic.
In Sunday’s final, the top-seeded Llodra and Zimonjic needed 76 minutes to complete the victory at St. Jakobshalle.
"It was a good final, but not so great for us," Nestor said. "The other guys were just too good. They did a great job and deserved to win. I should have done better on serve.
"I’ve played this event at least 10 times and had hoped for a win, but it was not to be today."
It was the third consecutive final appearance for the second-seeded Nestor and Mirnyi. They have won three trophies this year: Memphis, the French Open and last month’s Shanghai Masters.
The Toronto player was the weak link as he twice failed to hold serve after his side picked up breaks. Nestor was broken to go down 3-4 after his team had pulled even after Mirnyi gave up a break in the opening game.
In the second set, Nestor lost serve again in the third game. His side got it back with a break of Zimonjic to pull even at 5-5.
However, Nestor was broken for the third time a game later and Llodra went on to serve out the win.
Nestor and Mirnyi now stand 2-3 this season against Llodra and Zimonjic, after winning their last encounter three weeks ago in the Shanghai final.
In May, Llodra and Zimonjic won the Madrid quarter-finals while Nestor’s team got the win in the semifinals at Roland Garros. Llodra and Zimonjic answered in the Rogers Cup semifinal at Montreal.
Nestor, 39, is one tournament win away from earning his 75th career doubles title.