Team Bath MCTA Tennis professional Marcus Daniell’s hopes of reaching the Australian Open men’s doubles quarter-finals came to a battling end in Melbourne yesterday, Monday 23rd January.
Daniell and partner Marcus Demoliner had recorded a stunning second-round victory as they beat number six seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-1 7-6(4), recovering from a 5-2 deficit in the second set.
That put them through to the last 16, matching Daniell’s best-ever performance at a Grand Slam, but they were unable to progress further as they lost 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 to Australian duo Sam Groth and Chris Guccione on the 10,000-seater Hisense Arena showcourt.
“It was a close match in general but we’re disappointed,” said Daniell. “We created some chances and didn’t convert them.
“It was a mixture of a little bit unlucky and half a percent behind the eight ball and that was enough.”
Daniell, who made the semi-finals of the ABS Classic with Demoliner in New Zealand earlier this month, is set to climb into the world’s top 50 men’s doubles rankings following his fine start to 2017.
He is coached by Dave Sammel and Ian MacDonald at the University of Bath Sports Training Village.
Meanwhile, Luke Oakley and Manisha Foster won the men’s and ladies’ singles titles respectively at the Aegon British Tour tournament staged by Team Bath Tennis last week.
