Marcus Daniell, wife Caroline, and parents Derek and Chris outside the centre court named in his honour. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Wairarapa’s Olympics tennis bronze medallist Marcus Daniell was doubly honoured at the Central District Tennis Awards in Wellington last Saturday.
Daniell was named Male Player of the Year for winning the Olympics doubles bronze medal in Tokyo last July with compatriot Michael Venus —
New Zealand’s first Olympics tennis medal since 1912 when then tennis superstar Anthony Wilding won the singles bronze medal competing for Australasia.
The highlight though was the naming of the centre court at the Renouf Tennis Centre as the Marcus Daniell Court, joining the legendary Onny Parun, and 1989 Australian Open semifinalist Belinda Cordwell in having courts at the centre named after them.
Daniell was present to receive the honour and was interviewed about his career and Tokyo bronze medal, as well as the Arthur Ashe award for ATP Humanitarian of the Year.
The 32-year-old is taking a brief hiatus from the professional circuit in Raglan to recover from major knee surgery and to work full time on his High Impact Athletes Foundation, which encourages professional athletes to pledge a percentage of their earnings to effective organisations and charities.
Already more than 100 athletes from 32 sports and 28 countries have joined the initiative.
Daniell hopes to visit Wairarapa in July for several days.
