Tennis: Kiwi Marcus Daniell to face Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at Queens Club in London

Kiwi Marcus Daniell in action. Photo / Photosport

New Zealand doubles player Marcus Daniell will share the same court with multiple Grand Slam champions Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka at the Queens Club in London tonight.

Daniell and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof who lost in qualifying at the weekend, have been handed a lucky losers spot in the main draw.

They will face 12-time singles Grand Slam champion Djokovic and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Wawrinka following the withdrawal of Czech Tomas Berdych with a back injury.

Marius Copil and Ken Skupski were first in line to take the main draw place but Copil had to go back urgently to Romania so Daniell and Koolhof get the chance.

Meanwhile, New Zealand's top ranked doubles player Michael Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen are on the back foot in their first round match at the ATP 500 tournament in Halle in Germany.

Rain has ended play for the day with Venus and Klaasen trailing the German wildcard pairing of Tim Puetz and Jan-Lennard Struff 5-4 in the first set with the Germans serving for the set.

The match will resume overnight.

New Zealand's top ranked singles player Rubin Statham has been beaten in the first round of the US $75,000 ATP Challenger tournament in Fergana in Uzbekistan.

Statham lost after a strong start against Japanese qualifier Shuichi Sekiguchi, 0-6 7-6 (5) 6-2.

But there's been some good news for young women's pro Paige Hourigan in the US.

Playing in just her second ITF tournament, the 21-year-old has won through qualifying to reach the main draw in Baton Rouge Louisiana.

Hourigan has beaten American Kennedy Shaffer 6-2 7-5 in one hour 59 minutes. She will face Argentina's Maria Lourdes Carie in the first round.