Daniell returns to doubles final after decade-long delay
When Marcus Daniell last made the ASB Classic doubles final, John Key was in his first term as Prime Minister, the All Blacks were in the midst of a
23-year World Cup drought and Donald Trump’s main focus was hosting The Apprentice.
It was 2010, and Daniell was playing in his first ATP tour event.
He teamed with Romanian Horia Tecau and the unheralded pair became the feel-good story of the week, with a succession of upsets against hardened combinations.
A decade on, the Masterton-born
30-year-old is back in another final after he and Philipp Oswald beat fourth seeds Austin Krajicek and Franko Skugor 6-2, 7-6 (5) in yesterday’s second semifinal.
“It’s amazing that it was 10 years ago, feels like it has flashed past,” said Daniell. “I’ve got some pretty special memories on that court. [But at the time] it was a bit of a blur. It was just so unexpected. I was just going with the flow and it happened to work out.
“Now everything is a lot more considered. I feel like we really belong in a final; we belong in a final anywhere we play. I’ll be a lot more confident [today].
“Going into the match 10 years ago, even though it was on a home court, odds were very much against us. It’s different expectations and different mindsets but I feel particularly positive this time round.”
Yesterday, Daniell and Oswald took the first set comfortably and then stayed strong as the second turned into a bit of a dogfight.
But they got early momentum in the tiebreak and never relinquished it, closing out the contest in 83 minutes.
“It was all our way for the first set, we served and returned unbelievably well and we didn’t give them much of a look-in,” said Daniell. “At the set changeover, we said ‘let’s get ourselves ready for a fight’, because we knew they would come back at us.
“We dropped our level on returns a little bit, but we really stepped up and maintained our energy, especially towards the end. With the home crowd and those roars, we held our nerve and finished it well.”
Daniell and Oswald, who first teamed up last September, started well. They grabbed a break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, and while they always looked comfortable on their serve, their opponents began to wobble.
Krajicek and Skugor had never played together before this week, and at times lacked the cohesion that only comes with time on court.
At 2-5, Skugor was 15-40 down on his serve, and a crisp Oswald backhand volley sealed the set in 33 minutes.
Games went with serve in the second set, with both teams lifting their levels, before an almost inevitable tiebreaker.
Daniell provided some early impetus in the breaker, with a searing forehand pass over the highest part of the net, followed by a swift intercept at the net on the next point for a 3-0 lead.
Krajicek saved two match points with well-placed serves, before Oswald sealed the contest with a forehand volley off a Daniell serve.
“Oz and I are playing great tennis and we are creating great opportunities and we need to be ready for a big fight [today],” said Daniell.
They will face New Zealand-raised
Ben McLachlan and Luke Bambridge (Great Britain), who defeated the Belgian pair of Sandor Gille and Joran Vliegen 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4).
It’s the second successive final for McLachlan, after he took the title last year in Auckland, playing alongside German Jan-Lennard Struff to beat Kiwi Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen (South Africa).
McLachlan, who grew up in Queenstown, switched to playing under the Japanese flag in June 2017, able to do so as his mother was born in the Asian nation.
Playing another final on Stanley St holds special memories for McLachlan, who was a ball boy there as an 11-year-old in 2005.
“It was a dream when I was a ball boy here, years and years ago,” said McLachlan. “It was a good experience and our coach told us to try it out.
“But I actually fainted on court from heat stroke. I had to go off and puke on the side. I was on centre court when it happened, so it was pretty embarrassing. But I’ve got a lot better at hydrating now.”
McLachlan is looking forward to facing Daniell, as their association goes back a long way.
“Marcus is a great guy,” McLachlan said. “We’ve been friends for a long time. We practice a lot together. I came up for a week and trained with him in the off-season. We know each other’s games well.”