Tennis: Marcus Daniell joins Michael Venus in semifinals at Marseille ATP tournament

Michael Venus of New Zealand. Photo / Getty Images.

New Zealand doubles players Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus remain on course to meet in the doubles final at the ATP tournament in Marseille, France.

Fourth seeds Daniell and his British partner Dominic Inglot have joined top seeds Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen in the semifinals at the Open 13 Provence.

Daniell and Inglot thrashed the French pair of Giles Simon and Jonathan Eysseric 6-1, 6-1 in 43 minutes.

It's their second ATP World Tour semifinal together since joining forces last October. They reached the Australian Open quarter-finals in January and Daniell's performance this week will lift him from his current ranking of 34 to the cusp of the top 30.

Daniell and Inglot will face second seeds Rohan Bopanna of India and Frenchman Edouard-Roger-Vasselin for a place in the final.

Venus and Klaasen advanced to the semis late yesterday with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Romanian Florian Mergea and Canadian legend Daniel Nestor.

It's their best result since linking up at Auckland's ASB Classic where they reached the quarter-finals. They subsequently lost in the first round of the Australian Open and last week's ATP tournament in Rotterdam.

Venus and Klaasen will play the winner of the match between third seeds Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut against Andre Begemann and Mikhail Kukushkin in their semifinal tomorrow.