Daniell recovery victorious

Wairarapa's Marcus Daniell appears to be over the back injury which forced him to withdraw from the New Zealand tennis squad for the Commonwealth Games last October.
Daniell has not long returned to competitive play and a win over fellow Davis Cup teammate Rubin Statham in the final of the men's singles at the Canterbury open championships at Wilding Park, Christchurch, last weekend suggests his lengthy rehabilitation achieved its purpose.
Up against top seeded Statham, it was generally expected Daniell's lack of hard match play would tip the scales against him, but after dropping the first set 3-6, he launched a determined comeback which saw him take the second set 6-3 and the third 6-2.
Earlier, Daniell had beaten highly regarded Christchurch player Tim Meredith in the semifinals and here, too, his resolve was tested.
Meredith won the first set 3-6 and while Daniell took the second 7-5, it could have gone either way. But the third set was an entirely different story, with Daniell winning 6-0.