New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell has been beaten in the doubles quarter-finals at the Australian Open.
New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Daniell and his British partner Dominic Inglot were beaten in three sets 6-4, 6-7 (12-10) 7-6 (7-4) in a match lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes by the inform Austrian Croatian combination of 7th seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic.
Daniell and Inglot got off to the worst possible start when they were broken in the opening game and weren't able to recover. Marach and Pavic who are undefeated so far this year after tournament wins in Doha and Auckland, were never threatened on serve in the opening set and took it 6-4, winning 34 points to 25.
The second set was much tighter and Daniell and Inglot created the only break point chances on Marach's serve at 5-6. But at 15-40 and facing two set points against his serve, Marach stepped up to snuff out the opportunity and hold to force a tiebreaker.
Daniell and Inglot made a cracking start to the tiebreaker with the Kiwi winning the first point on serve before Pavic lost both his two service points. Daniell and Inglot quickly raced to a 5-0 lead. But it soon evaporated with some inspired play from their opponents who won the next six points to earn the first of three match points in the breaker.
But Pavic volleyed into the net and Daniell earned the first of three set points for him and Inglot with his next serve. Daniell eventually closed it out with a cross court volley, the set lasting 67 minutes.
Both teams stepped up on serve in the deciding set with neither creating a single break point chance. It headed to a tie breaker which Pavic and Marach clinched 7-5 after going up an early mini break.
Despite the defeat Daniell's best ever showing in a Grand Slam will see him climb to a career high of around 34 when the doubles rankings come out next week.
Daniell and Inglot share a hundred housand dollars for their efforts and are now in with a chance of playing in the lucrative ATP Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami in March.
Marach and Pavic will face ex Kiwi Ben McLachlan and his German partner Jan Leonard Struff in the semis. McLachlan switched allegiance to Japan last year through his mum's Japanese heritage and is now an integral member of the Japanese Davis Cup squad.
-RNZ
