Kiwi pair counting net gain from Rio in the Tokyo task
Kiwi tennis players Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell are heading to the Olympics again — and confident they can make an impact in Tokyo.
The doubles duo were named in the New Zealand team on Thursday, with their participation to be ultimately confirmed when the International Tennis Federation releases the final Olympics entry list in early July.
Venus and Daniell competed at the
2016 Rio Games, which they both nominate as a career highlight, even though they fell at the first hurdle, to the eventual silver medallists.
They have both improved their games considerably since, particularly world No 16 Venus, who has become established in the doubles elite. He won the 2017 French Open with Ryan Harrison and reached the
2018 Wimbledon final alongside Raven Klaasen. The 33-year-old has qualified for the ATP finals in London each of the past four years and has 14 doubles titles to his name.
World No 41 Daniell’s progress has been less spectacular, but nevertheless steady, and his current partnership with Austrian Philipp Oswald has yielded some impressive
results, with three finals appearances together already, including one win.
The Tokyo field will have 32 teams, which means three wins will be required to be in contention for a podium finish.
“Absolutely, I do think it’s realistic,” said Daniell of their medal prospects. “Mike has been playing at the highest levels for many years now, and in my most recent partnership, I’ve been consistently beating the top teams in the world.
“So we know we can do it with the partners we’ve been playing with, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it together. We have a fair amount of experience playing together. We’ve got a good shot.”