TENNIS
Wairarapa’s Marcus Daniell and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof have had their best result as a team, reaching the doubles semifinals at the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg, the German Open.
They thrashed Spaniard David Marrero and Pakistan’s Aisam Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-1, 6-2 in 57 minutes.
Daniell and Koolhof served superbly throughout and lost only four points on first serve during the match.
They converted four of their five break point chances and saved all four break points against them.
For Daniell it’s an encouraging sign that he and Koolhof can become a real force on the doubles circuit.
“I feel like we found our level today,” Daniell said.
“We played solid tennis on both serve and return and came up trumps on the few big points in the match.
“Wes and I are clicking more and more with each match we play and I think we can do some serious damage in the remainder of the season.”
Daniell and Koolhof had struggled earlier in their partnership which formed at the start of the grass court season.
The pair were beaten by the top seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavi, in the semifinals.– NZME
