Michael Venus is one of three New Zealanders to make the main doubles draw at the French Open. Photo / Nick Reed
New Zealand will have three male players in the upcoming French Open doubles main draw for the first time since 1985 after the confirmation that Artem Sitak, Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell have all made the direct entry list.
For Daniell, 25, it will be his first Grand Slam tournament
after he found a partner at the latest possible moment, Belgium's Steve Darcis - the pair being the last to make the tournament. Daniell is ranked at a career high 79 in the world in doubles and recently achieved a semifinal finish at the ATP tournament in Istanbul, also winning a title at the ATP event at Montpellier with Sitak earlier in the year.
For Daniell it was touch and go as to whether he'd have to rely on a withdrawal to make the main draw cut for the French Open, but was able to find top 100 ranked singles player Darcis who required a partner.
"I just had to talk to everybody I could and it worked out beautifully in the end. I've played against a bunch of the best guys now and I don't feel any sense of out of place playing against them now. Steve (Darcis) and I have been in touch quite a bit and we just made it into the draw, we'll no doubt catch up on the weekend before the tournament starts to practice together. He's very experienced and I think we'll make a good team together," said Daniell.
Sitak is at a career high ranking of 46 and will combine with regular doubles partner Nicolas Monroe from the United States. Together they were finalists at the Bucharest ATP event as well as the Challenger tournament at Aix en Provence. It will also be the first French Open for Sitak.
Venus is ranked 64th in doubles and will team with Croatian Mate Pavic. The pair have won two Challenger titles and been a finalist in another, making the quarterfinals of an ATP event in four of their last five events.
