Marcus Daniell says he needs a break from tennis. Photo / Photosport
Olympic bronze medalist Marcus Daniell has revealed he's burnt out and is taking a break from the sport.
The 32-year-old is back in New Zealand for the first time in two years after repeated failures to secure an MIQ spot. He finally got "lucky" and secured a place after the Australian Open and has decided to put the rackets away for at least the next month or two.
It means he will miss New Zealand's Davis Cup tie against Uruguay in Las Vegas next month as well as the ATP Masters 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Miami. The world number 52 says he's needed a break since winning the doubles tennis bronze in Tokyo with Michael Venus.
"The reality is since July last year I've needed a break and I haven't been able to get one. So it was a good six or seven months of just grinding through last year," Daniell said.
Daniell, a winner of five ATP doubles titles, admitted the end of his partnership with Austrian Philip Oswald contributed to his struggles. They had been achieving some strong results as a team but Oswald opted to end their partnership after Wimbledon. Daniell played out the season with former partner Brazilian Marcelo Demoliner.
"I wasn't fully confident that it could be a long-term thing. I know [Demoliner] wanted to team up this year. We were due to play the Australian Open together but his knee didn't heal up in time. So I was at the last minute trying to find partners for the Australian tournaments and it was all very messy and uncertain."
Daniell and his wife Caroline have been out of MIQ and are unwinding at his bach at Karekare Beach, west of Auckland. It's the perfect spot for the keen surfer to take stock.
"At this point right now, I'm going to try not to think too much about tennis for at least a month or two. I want to really get my head right. I don't think there's any point in me being on tour If I'm not 100 per cent there," Daniell said.
"The margins are so fine in tennis that if you're not 100 per cent putting mental energy into every part of your day, then you are going to slip behind, and I'm at a stage in my career where I don't want to just turn up to tournaments for the sake of playing a tournament. I want to be there to win."
Daniell is passionate about representing New Zealand and making himself unavailable for the upcoming Davis Cup tie against Uruguay, which will be Kelly Evernden's first as captain, wasn't an easy decision.
"I made the decision when there was no chance of getting a spot in MIQ after the tie. At the time when I had to make a decision I couldn't come home after the tie and I didn't feel like that was going to be long enough for me to really get my head right.
"I wanted to put my name down for the tie. I love Davis Cup and love representing New Zealand, but it didn't make any sense at the time. Now, it seems like there might be a chance that you could come back and do home isolation at some point but the ship had already sailed.
"So yeah, it's a shame. But at the same time, it's not like there's a huge loss with me not playing. I think Artem [Sitak] will probably step into my shoes. He's been a top 40 in the world doubles and still plays a high level."
The New Zealand team is expected to be named this weekend.
Daniell will take his time before rejoining the tour, probably somewhere in Europe on the clay leading into the French Open.
"The luxury I have is I don't really have any big points to defend until the middle of the year. So, what that means is I can take the time that I need now and my ranking doesn't slip too much."
Finding a quality partner could be the hard part as most doubles teams are established by the time the clay court season rolls around in April.
"I prefer to try and build something with someone and think to the long-term rather than chopping and changing. I think at the beginning, there might necessarily be some chopping and changing because you can't just snag a long-term partner straight out the gates usually anyway.
"But I think I'm well enough respected on tour that at least I would have options. If I put my name in the hat to have decent partners for the first patch and then it would just be about seeing the lay of the land, seeing who's injured at the time, which partnerships are ending naturally and seeing who's available."