Perhaps the omens are good for New Zealand that Davis Cup players Rubin Statham and Marcus Daniell will compete in the singles final of the Maxim Financial Wellington Tennis Open.
Statham ranked 382 in the world and the defending champion in the Capital had the easier route to the final after a straight set win over New Zealand junior title holder Ajeet Rai.
For Statham making the final was expected, but for Daniell ranked 42 in the world in doubles it's a rarity. Singles is not something he regularly plays or considers his strength. He had to overcome second seed Rhett Purcell from Auckland, who plays under a British flag in the semis in blustery conditions, eventually winning 6-2 0-6 6-4
"It was a strange match. I'm not really used to playing singles anymore and the way I used to play singles wasn't really working....I just tried playing doubles on the singles court. The third set had a couple of calls which went my way. I'm happy I held my nerve," said Daniell
"The final will be inside, out of the wind against Rubin (Statham) who is playing really well. It's going to be a bit of a battle out there for me. It's great to see him playing so well as we have Davis Cup next week and he's going to be one of the key singles players, so hopefully I can give him so good practice for next week...."
