Shock split leaves Kiwi doubles ace reeling before US Open preparation
New Zealand tennis player Marcus Daniell has been left reeling after his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald decided to end their partnership. The 31-year-old Kiwi expressed his surprise that Oswald, who had reached a career-high ranking and his first Grand Slam quarter-final playing with Daniell, decided after the French Open to split after Wimbledon.
It’s believed Oswald, who will play with Oliver Marach at the Olympics, will team with his fellow Austrian on a permanent basis after Tokyo.
Daniell and Oswald reached their first Grand Slam quarter-final together at the Australian Open in February, won an ATP title in Sardinia last year and notched up notable victories over some of the world’s best doubles combinations. They have been seeded at their last two Grand Slams and Daniell felt they were forming a formidable partnership.
“I can’t hide that, it’s been a brutal couple of years with the injuries that hamstrung us before Covid hit,” said Daniell. “In saying that, we did pretty well. He [Oswald] reached the second week of a Slam for the first time and reached a career-high ranking [31] and that’s the hardest time to move up in the rankings with the Covid ranking freezes.” Daniell said.
Daniell and Oswald are 14th in the race to qualify among the top eight teams for the season-ending ATP Finals and Oswald’s decision has left the Kiwi frustrated.
“So, yeah, I’m really disappointed. Every team I’ve gone into with a longterm mindset. I think it makes sense to stick with one partner for a long time and build something and go through the hard patches and find your way out the other side. In saying that, he’s a good guy, I don’t hold it against him, but I am disappointed.”
Daniell and Oswald lost a tight
second round match at Wimbledon after losing a close semifinal at Queen’s and the Kiwi felt the looming split affected their performances
“He told me before the first grass court tournament before Stuttgart, and it was a tough month and hard to maintain some semblance of the right sort of energy on court when you have that hanging over your head.”
Daniell has a few weeks to find someone before he returns to the United States where he will hope to have a new partner in place for tournaments before the US Open.