Tennis: Marcus Daniell advances to ATP final in Marseille

Kiwi Marcus Daniell. Photo / Nick Reed.

New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and his British partner Dominic Inglot have continued their impressive form to reach the doubles final at the ATP tournament in Marseille.

The 4th seeds have beaten the 2nd seeded pair of Indian Rohan Bopanna and Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-1 6-4 in 51 min. It's the first ATP tour final for Daniell since joining forces with Inglot last October and is another indication that the pair are quickly developing into one of the best combinations on the tour. Daniell will be chasing his 4th ATP World Tour title and first since 2016 in Monday morning's final. (NZT)

Daniell and Inglot got off to a cracking start in the first set and broke serve twice, converting 2 of their 5 break point chances. The second set was tighter with just the one break of serve but the 4th seeds were always in the ascendency putting their opponents under pressure on serve. Daniell and Inglot had 10 break point chances in the match to Roger-Vasselin and Bopanna's one.

"We played a very clinical match today, nothing outrageous, just quality on top of quality and it made the difference." Daniell said.
It's the third top result for Daniell and Inglot since coming together for the ATP tournament in Basel in October where they made the semi-finals after qualifying. They reached the quarter finals at the Australian Open in January, Daniell's best Grand Slam result to date.

"Being in our first final together feels normal, which is great. It feels like we can reproduce this level over and over and today was against a serious team. It's an exciting thing to consider." Daniell said.

Now they have a chance to win a first tour title together and it could be against fellow Kiwi, French Open champion Michael Venus who plays his semi-final tomorrow morning.
Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen are the top seeds and face the 3rd seeded French pairing of Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau.

Daniell will be supporting Venus having never played another Kiwi in an ATP tour final.

"I would love to play against Mike on the final, it's always great to see Kiwis doing well and it would mean at least one of us taking home the trophy. Plus we wouldn't be playing against a home crowd."