Kiwi pair Michael Venus, Marcus Daniell bow out of Olympic doubles

  • 08/08/2016
Michael Venus (Photosport)
Michael Venus (Photosport)

By Dave Worsley

New Zealand's tennis Olympians Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell have gone so close to an upset in the first round of doubles in Rio before bowing out to the seventh seeds Daniel Nestor and Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4 3-6 6-7 (6) in two hours and three minutes.

The Kiwis started the match well taking the first set but the Canadians fought back taking the second set 6-3. It came down to the tie break and basically the final two points being the only difference between the teams.

Both combinations were successful with two breaks of serve each. The Kiwis converting two of their four opportunities while the Canadians were successful with two out of seven break point opportunities.

Nestor has a current ATP doubles ranking of nine and has 90 career titles including eight grand slam titles, while Pospisil is 17 in the world and has six titles including the 2014 Wimbledon title.

Venus is ranked 41st with four titles and two finalists finishes this year and Daniell ranked 58th has one title to his name this year.

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