New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell has progressed to the third round of the doubles at the US Open.
New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Daniell and his American partner Brian Baker defeated the experienced pair of Rohan Bopanana (India) and Frederik Nielsen (Denmark) 6-2 7-6(5).
"We dominated for most of the match and had a chance to put them away at 5-2 in the second set, but they are quality players and punched back," said Daniell after the match.
"The tiebreaker was a battle, with Brian hitting a huge return winner at 4-5. We got gifted a double fault at 5-5 then I closed it out with a big first serve."
"It feels great to be in another third round. We'll be comfortable out there this time and we're both pumped to go deeper," said Daniell who will also be in Christchurch for the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in a couple of weeks at Wilding Park.
The second round was not so kind to two other New Zealanders who have been knocked out of the New York tournament.
The New Zealand tennis player Artem Sitak Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Artem Sitak and Dutchman Robin Haase, a scratch pairing were beaten by Frenchmen Pierre-Hughues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in straight sets 6-3 6-4, but Sitak was not down about the result.
"It was a good experience playing against the team which is No.1 in the world. I could clearly see what they do well and what got them to the top. I now know what to work on even more. Sometimes a loss like this can prove very valuable," said Sitak.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's Marina Erakovic and Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja have been beaten by the Chinese 11th seeds Saisai Zheng and Yifan Xu 6-3 7-6(5) in the second round of the women's doubles.
Marina Erakovic Photo: Photosport
Daniell's Davis Cup teammate Michael Venus and regular partner, Mate Pavic (Croatia) play their second round doubles match at Flushing Meadow on Monday (NZT) against the fifth seeds Jean-Julian Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecau (Romania).
