Daniell’s sights set on quarters

After storming into the third round, Kiwi doubles player Marcus Daniell is upbeat about his chances of going further than he ever has before at a Grand Slam at the Australian Open.

Daniell has matched his best performance at a Grand Slam, teaming up with Britain’s Dominic Inglot to beat the French pair of Benoit Paire and Hugo Nys 6-4, 6-2 in 53 minutes on Saturday.

The draw has opened up for the Kiwi, who had expected to face fourth seeds Nicolas Mahut and Pierre Hugues Herbert of France for a place in the quarterfinals.

However the Frenchmen were upset in a third set tiebreak by the relatively unknown combination of Chilean Hans-Castillo-Poolipink and Belarussian Andrei Vasilevski.

Daniell and Inglot beat Poolipink and Vasilevski en route to reaching the semifinals at an ATP tournament in Basel last October.

‘‘We had a close match against them and they are a rising team and have won two close matches,’’ Daniell said.

‘‘We know them and are ready to dominate.’’

Against Paire and Nys, Daniell and Inglot benefited from Paire struggling with a stomach muscle problem and being unable to serve properly.

Having reached the second week at Melbourne Park, Daniell is adamant he’s not finished yet.

‘‘I’m ready to go deep in a Slam, so no reason why it can’t be this one.’’