Marcus Daniell savours the occasion of final Wimbledon match

Marcus Daniell said he tried to take in as much as he could when he played his last ever match at Wimbledon on Friday.

The 34-year-old has decided 2024 will be his final year as a professional player and unfortunately, he and his French partner Theo Arribage suffered a 7-6(8) 6-3 loss to Julian Cash and Robert Galloway in the first round. 

The match was being played on the court next to where Lulu Sun was having her memorable win over Zhu Lin and it was almost as if while one chapter of New Zealand tennis was ending, another was beginning.

Daniell’s best run at Wimbledon was in 2019, when he reached the quarterfinals with Wesley Koolhof from the Netherlands.

Sadly, Daniell wasn’t able to go deep at this year’s Championship with his French partner and as the match was coming towards its conclusion he was trying to savour the moment.

“It’s a bit sad. I was trying to take a breath on the court after the match and look around a bit, to take it all in,” Daniell said.

“For me, it’s a special place. It’s the heart of tennis in my mind. So knowing that I’m not going to step out on a match court here again is sad. 

“At the same time, I’m happy with how I played. I threw everything out there and I’ve had some good results at Wimbledon in the past. So sad, but also content.”

Daniell had hoped to play at the Olympics later this month with Michael Venus, but they just missed the cut and are two out on the alternate list.

However, Daniell says the Olympics isn’t like other tournaments where they can turn up and hope for a couple of withdrawals. 

"There are so many rules with the Olympics that I’m not sure what the actual situation is, but what I’ve been told is that we have until July 8 for there to be two withdrawals for us to go,” Daniell said.

“So I’m absolutely gutted about that and I also think some of the rules around the tennis competition at the Olympics don’t make a huge amount of sense.

“I understand they have a total of 86 badges for the men and 86 for the women. What that means is that there will be people playing in the doubles draw who by ranking don’t deserve to be there, ahead of other people.

“I think you want the Olympics to be a pinnacle event and try to find the best doubles team in the world at the Olympics.

“I don’t know if it had been done purely based on rankings whether we would have got in, but either way, that’s the way it should be done.”

Daniell has two more opportunities to use his protected ranking and he plans to use them at Atlanta and the US Open.

That will almost be the end of Daniell’s career, but ASB Classic tournament director Nicolas Lamperin says he will offer Daniell a wildcard so he can play his final tournament in Auckland.

"That’s part of what the tournament stands for,” Lamperin said. 

“We want to acknowledge the career of the people who’ve done great for New Zealand and Marcus is one of them.

“So we’ll make sure he’ll have the option to do that in the next tournament.”

Daniell says he wasn’t aware Lamperin was committed to giving him a wildcard, but he feels it will be the perfect location for him to say goodbye to tennis.

“I hadn’t asked him point blank. It felt a little strange to ask point blank,” Daniell said. 

“But that gives me something to really look forward to.

“The ASB Classic for me, that’s where it all began in 2010 and I have epic memories on that court. So to be able to actually know that’s where I’m going to close out my career, that’s pretty cool.”