Tennis: NZ double make bid for Rio 2016

Marcus Daniell (left) and Artem Sitak strategise on court in the United States. Picture / NZME

Two of New Zealand's top players in doubles tennis are putting together a bold bid for Olympic qualification next year.

Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell will pair up full-time on the ATP circuit in 2016 as they chase selection for Rio.

Earlier this year Sitak, who was born in Russia, and Daniell became the first all-New Zealand combination to win an ATP tennis title in more than 30 years when they took out the Open Sud de France in Montpellier. They made the final in Memphis the next week but lost in the third set.

Having achieved some strong results in their limited time together, the duo decided at the end of the season that if they were to combine more permanently they could give the Olympics a real crack.

"It was always in the back of my mind that I wanted to try for the Olympics, but now we've got a plan all laid out and it looks achievable it is feeling pretty real," said Sitak.

"I know a lot teams are splitting up and getting together with players from the same country just to prepare for the Olympics," he said.

Tennis New Zealand has indicated both players need to be ranked in the top 35 for their names to be put forward to the New Zealand Olympic Committee. Sitak finished the year ranked 43 in the world in doubles, while Daniell has a little more work to do at 76.

But Sitak is confident they can get there if they produce a run of consistent results.

"We have two Grand Slams -- the Australian Open and the French Open -- and if we do well there and go deep into the tournament in one of those, then I think we will have a really good chance."

The international cut-off for Olympic qualification is after the French Open in May, giving the pair five months to build up their ranking.

"We're only going to play ATP events over this time, so if we play well we can make big leaps," Sitak said. "We have shown we can beat the top players [in Montpellier and Memphis]. It is just a matter of doing it consistently because that's what gets you to the top, is keeping doing that on a regular basis, tournament after tournament."

Sitak and Daniell will open their season at the Chennai Open in early January before returning home for the ASB Classic in Auckland.