Tennis: Tough second round for Kiwis at US Open

Kiwi doubles team, Artem Sitak in action with Marcus Daniell (not pictured). Photo / Nick Reed.

After a great first round where all four doubles teams featuring Kiwi tennis players won their matches, the second round has been a little tougher.

Artem Sitak and Dutchman Robin Haase, a scratch pairing were beaten by Frenchmen Pierre-Hughues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in the second round of the US Open in straight sets 6-3 6-4 but Sitak wasn't down about the result.

"It was a good experience playing against the team which is No.1 in the world. I could clearly see what they do well and what got them to the top. I now know what to work on even more. Sometimes a loss like this can prove very valuable," said Sitak.

Meanwhile Marina Erakovic and Spaniard Arantxa Parra Santonja were beaten by the Chinese 11th seeds Saisai Zheng and Yifan Xu 6-3 7-6(5) in the second round of the women's doubles.

The big success of the second round was Marcus Daniell and American Brian Baker beating the experienced pair of Rohan Bopanana (India) and Frederik Nielsen (Denmark) 6-2 7-6(5).

"We dominated for most of the match and had a chance to put them away at 5-2 in the second set, but they are quality players and punched back. The tiebreaker was a battle, with Brian hitting a huge return winner at 4-5. We got gifted a double fault at 5-5 then I closed it out with a big first serve. It feels great to be in another third round. We'll be comfortable out there this time and we're both pumped to go deeper," said Daniell who will also be in Christchurch for the Davis Cup tie against Pakistan in a couple of weeks at Wilding Park.

Davis Cup teammate Michael Venus and regular partner, Mate Pavic (Croatia) play their second round doubles tomorrow as they take on the fifth seeds Jean-Julian Rojer (Netherlands) and Horia Tecau (Romania).