Reliable doubles combination gives NZ the edge
Advantage New Zealand. Doubles specialists Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak soaked up the pressure and expectation that goes with their growing status in the twoman game by delivering the victory their country needed on day two of the Davis Cup tennis tie against Korea in Auckland.
It wasn’t easy, with Daniell and Sitak having to work their way out of a tight spot to secure a 6-2 4-6 6-4 7-6 (4) victory over Korea’s Chung Hong and Lee Jea Moon to take the Kiwis into a 2-1 lead in the Asia/Oceania group one tie at the ASB Tennis Arena yesterday.
The New Zealanders were down a break in the fourth set, with the Korean pair serving at 5-4 to take the match into a fifth. But Daniell and Sitak found their rhythm beautifully when it was needed, breaking back in the 10th game, spurning a couple of match points in the 12th and then executing with precision in the tiebreak to take it out 7-4.
‘‘We were really happy the way we closed it out,’’ Daniell said after a match that lasted two hours and 46 minutes.
‘‘We weren’t feeling the most natural out there, and didn’t have the easy flow that Artem and I can sometimes have.
‘‘But from 5-4 and a break down in the fourth to come back and get match points at 6-5, and win the breaker relatively convincingly, we’re really happy how we responded to the pressure situations. I think we’re on a bit of a winning streak in Davis Cup so long may it continue.’’
Daniell is right. The Kiwis have now won eight doubles matches on the bounce in a Cup run stretching back to their last loss to the Philippines in 2013.
Sitak and Daniell haven’t been the combination in all of those ties, but they’ve had their fair share of wins.
‘‘Going into every Davis Cup tie we know we’re the favourites when playing doubles,’’ Sitak said.
New Zealand No 1 Rubin Statham is scheduled to open today, at 11am, against Korea’s top player Kwon Soon Woo in the first of the reverse singles; then, if required, Venus will meet Hong Seong Chan in the potential decider.