Marcus Daniell at the 2020 ASB Classic on January 17, 2020. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
TENNIS
CHRIS COGDALE
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Wairarapa tennis star Marcus Daniell was fuming after being knocked out of the men’s doubles at the US Open in New York.
Daniell and Brazilian partner Marcelo Demoliner were beaten in the second round by the third-seeded French pair of Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-3 6-7 [3] 7-6 [1] in a gruelling two hours and 31 minutes.
As the score suggests there was little in the match, although Daniell felt they were robbed after a controversial incident early in the third set.
Mahut was serving at 30-30 in the third game and Herbert hit a volley which was long, but Daniell said the umpire ruled the ball had hit him on the way past.
“But it was about a foot away and was so obvious we didn’t pay attention to the score, so when we won the next point, we thought we’d broken them,” Daniell said.
The aggrieved Kiwi said they should have been 2-1 up with a break and instead found themselves 2-1 down. There was a discussion between Daniell and Herbert for several minutes before play resumed.
Daniell said Mahut and Herbert had apologised to them after the match.
Daniell and Demoliner had progressed to the second round beating the British pair of Daniel Evans and Lloyd Glasspool in a walkover. The Kiwi-Brazilian pair had broken serve and were leading 2-1 in the deciding third set when Evans withdrew with a leg injury.
The US Open was the second tournament for Daniell and Demoliner since they reunited the week before the US Open.
The pair had played together for two seasons earlier in Daniell’s career, and they quickly rediscovered their combinations and made the quarter-finals at the Winston Salem ATP tournament in the lead-up to the final grand slam of the year.
Daniell also crashed out of the mixed doubles in the second round at Flushing Meadows. He and partner Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski were no match for Max Purcell [Australia] and Dayanna Yastremska [Ukraine], beaten in straight sets 6-3 6-3 in 63 minutes.
