23 Feb 2018

NZ tennis players on course to meet in Marseille final

7:50 am on 23 February 2018

New Zealand doubles players Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus remain on course to meet in the doubles final at the ATP tennis tournament in Marseille.

New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell.

New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

4th seeds Daniell and his British partner Dominic Inglot have joined top seeds Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen in the semi finals.

Daniell and Inglot have thrashed the French pair of Giles Simon and Jonathan Eysseric 6-1, 6-1 in 43 minutes.

It's their second ATP World Tour semi final together since joining forces last October. They reached the Australian Open quarter finals in January and Daniell's performance this week will lift him from his current ranking of 34 to the cusp of the top 30.

Daniell and Inglot will face second seeds Rohan Bopanna of India and Frenchman Edouard-Roger-Vasselin for a place in the final.

Venus and Klaasen advanced to the semis yesterday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Romanian Florian Mergea and Canadian legend Daniel Nestor.

It's their best result since linking up at Auckland's ASB Classic where they reached the quarter finals. They subsequently lost in the first round of the Australian Open and last week's ATP tournament in Rotterdam.

Venus and Klaasen will play the winner of the match between 3rd seeds Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut against Andre Begemann and Mikhail Kukushkin in their semi final tomorrow.