Kiwi doubles players find out their US Open draws
Friday, 28 August 2020
Kiwis Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell have received mixed draws for the US Tennis Open in New York next week.
The doubles draw has been made with Venus the world number 11 and his Australian partner John Peers unseeded but avoiding a seeded pairing.
Usually a Grand Slam doubles draw has 64 teams but due to Covid-19 it has been reduced to 32 teams meaning Venus and Peers are unseeded.
They face Americans Nicholas Monroe and Nathaniel Lammons in the first round. Monroe is ranked 84th and Lammons 107. Win that match and the antipodean combination could come up against second seeds Lukasz Kubot from Poland and Brazil's Marcelo Melo.
It's a difficult draw for New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and his Austrian partner Philipp Oswald. The pair have had very little practice together in the last six months since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down professional tennis and weren't in the field for this week's Cincinnati Masters. Daniell has been in the US Open bubble for a week and has spent time getting used to the conditions in New York.
Daniell and Oswald face 7th seeded South African Raven Klaasen (Venus's former partner) and Austrian Oliver Marach in the first round at Flushing Meadows.
The doubles gets underway on Thursday New Zealand time.
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