Tennis: Kiwi doubles Marcus Daniell player to miss the French Open

Marcus Daniell. Photo / Nick Reed

New Zealand doubles player Marcus Daniell will miss this month's French Open revealing his wrist injury will keep him sidelined until the grass court season next month.

The world number 35 first damaged ligaments in his right wrist during February's Davis Cup tie against China in February.

He initially played through the pain at ATP tournaments in Montpellier, Marseille and Dubai before resting for a week ahead of the Masters 1000 tournaments in Indian Wells and Miami and was largely untroubled.

But the problem flared up during his second round defeat at last month's tournament in Marrakech and after receiving treatment at his base in Barcelona, Daniell decided to take a month off with the hope of returning for the ATP tournament in Geneva, a week prior to Roland Garros.

However the 28 year old now accepts he won't be fit for the year's second Grand Slam.

"It's definitely gutting but I have been dealing with this wrist problem since early February and it became acute in the first clay court tournament of the year. It's an important part of the body my right wrist which I use on every shot so I am in a cast at the moment and totally immobilised and hoping to come back for the grass courts." Daniell said.

"If I come back too early and the ligaments become a bit stretchy it could be a career ender for me according to the doctors. This is one injury that I have to be careful with and take all the right precautions. Skipping a Grand Slam is a punch in the guts because this will be the first one I have missed since by first Grand Slam at the French Open four years ago. So it hurts but it's better to take a little bit of extra time out now and get things right rather than risking my career ending early." Daniell said.

Daniell says there is no guarantee he will be ready for the start of the grass court season but he is hopeful.

"I have another two weeks in a cast before the doctor will perform a dynamic ultrasound to see how the ligaments are looking and if the cast comes off I will have another four weeks of rehab before I can resume playing."

That's a best case scenario for the Kiwi number two who hopes to play at least two grass court tournaments before Wimbledon starts at the beginning of July.

Daniell doesn't have many ranking points to defend during the clay court season so his ranking is unlikely to drop much from his current position of 35 before he returns to the court.