Kiwis win ATP title in Stuttgart

Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak have won their second career ATP team title with a drawn out victory this morning over Austrian Oliver Marach and Frenchman Fabrice Martin 6-7(4) 6-4 10-8 in the Mercedes Cup doubles final in Stuttgart.

Neither pair lost their serve in the first set, as Daniell and Sitak erased two break points. Marach and Martin broke through in the tie-break, gaining a mini-break at 4-4 and winning the next two points to serve out the set.

The Austrian and Frenchman rode their momentum to start the second, earning a break and sprinting to a 3-0 lead. But the Kiwis bounced back, reeling off six of the next seven games to tie the match. They led 3-1 in the match tie-break before rain delayed the contest for about three-and-a-half hours.

When play continued, the Kiwis picked up where they left off. They jumped to a 6-1 lead and won their second match point to hold onto the win.

Sitak had won the title at the same tournament in 2014 with Polish player Mateusz Kowalczyk and was thrilled to be back with the title his again.

"What a feeling winning in Stuttgart again, last time it was on clay and this time on grass. We had to battle through a lot of rain delays yesterday and today but managed to stay really strong and win it after being down a set and a break in the final," said Sitak.

Daniell and Sitak, who won their first tour-level title last year at Montpellier, are now 2-0 in tour-level finals. The win should provide a good boost to their current rankings of 64 and 65 respectively as they build up to Wimbledon in two weeks time.

- This story has been automatically published using a media release from New Zealand Tennis