New Zealand's Marcus Daniell has begun 2019 with a bang, winning the Brisbane Masters men's doubles title with Dutchman Wesley Koolhof on Sunday.
The unseeded pairing beat American-British duo Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-4 7-6 (6) in just under 90 minutes at the Queensland Tennis Centre.
As a pair, it was their first doubles title together and their fourth title as individuals.
Daniell previously lifted trophies at 2010 Auckland (with Horia Tecău), 2015 Montpellier (with Kiwi Artam Sitak) and 2016 Stuttgart (Sitak).
Daniell said he was pleased with the result, as they'd targete to qualify for the ATP Tour finals at the end of the year,
"We had a really big, deep chat at the end of 2018 about what we needed to work on individually and as a team to be a competitor for the top eight [at the ATP finals]," said Daniell.
"I think we both went away, and put a lot of time and effort into those things, and I think it's paying off."
They now head across to Auckland, where they’ll face a South American pair of Argentinian Leonardo Mayer and Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas in the ASB Classic opening round.
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