Kiwi doubles trio to start new season
New Zealand’s trio of ATP doubles players start their season in Melbourne this week ahead of the Australian Open. Michael Venus is teaming with Marcus Daniell and they are the fifth seeds at the Great Southern Open and have a bye into the second round. They could face fellow Kiwi Artem Sitak who is playing with Argentine Federico Delbonis. They face German Dominik Koepfer and American Tennys Sandgren in the first round.
It was touch and go whether Venus would make it to Australia due to the suspension in the one-way travel bubble by the Australian Government. But that has now been lifted and the Kiwi will fly out on Tuesday for Melbourne.
Venus and Daniell are playing together this week because their regular partners John Peers and Philipp Oswald are representing Australia and Austria respectively at the ATP Cup.
Daniell and Sitak only just emerged over the weekend from their 14 days hard isolation in their Melbourne hotel rooms having been locked down following the positive Covid-19 tests on their flight from Los Angeles.
Venus is ranked 13th in the ATP doubles rankings heading into the new season while Daniell is 45th and Sitak is 78th.
As the Australian Open heats up, so does the Aussie sun
Our NZ players have the worlds best sun protection to keep them safe on the courts during this competition. Being in quarantine for 2 weeks would have an effect on their skin, so being able to boost their protection from the inside with Heliocare 360° Capsules will give them the advantage Rafael Nadal has enjoyed in recent months. They’ll also be lathering on Heliocare Water Gel which is sweat resistant so as not to run into their eyes & cause irritation.
Heliocare capsules have been approved by Informed Sports, an international anti-doping agency.
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