New Zealand doubles player Marcus Daniell and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof have suffered a tight quarter final loss at the Queens ATP grass court tournament in London.
A day after beating 12 times singles Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and three times Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka, Daniell and Koolhof have lost 6-3, 6-7 (2) 10-7 in 1 hr 34 to 4th seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares.
The Kiwi number three and Koolhof only got into the main draw as lucky losers from qualifying but pushed their highly ranked opponents all the way.
It wasn't a vintage serving day for Daniell however as he was broken twice in the opening set and also lost serve twice in the second set. But Koolhof and Daniell were able to break both Murray and Soares to force a tie break which they then dominated, winning 7 points to 2.
The match went to a deciding match tie break which they dominated early racing to a 3-0 lead They then led 7-4 at at that stage looked headed for the semi finals. But Soares was able to win both his service points before Daniell lost both his and the match turned.
Despite the defeat Daniell and Koolhof have now had three matches under their belts on grass as they continue to build towards Wimbledon which starts at the end of the month.
The Kiwi is coming off a two month injury lay off where he missed almost the entire clay court season due to wrist problems.
Daniell and Koolhof will head south to Eastbourne for one more ATP grass court tournament next week before heading to the All England Club.
Meanwhile young New Zealand tennis pro Paige Hourigan has battled into the quarter finals at the US 25,000 ITF tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The 21-year-old, playing in just her second pro tournament since finishing college in the US, has beaten fellow qualifier American Kelly Chen 7-6 (5) 4-6 6-2 in 2 hrs 48.
It's a fifth straight win at the tournament for Hourigan who won through three rounds of qualifying to make the main draw.