Aces high: Which top player is lined up for the Classic?

Marcus Daniell hopes the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission will give him a better understanding of the sporting world.

Daniell has been nominated by the New Zealand Olympic Committee as a candidate for the upcoming IOC Athletes’ Commission elections, with the International Tennis Federation also giving him its backing.

The New Zealand doubles player, who is almost at the end of a long recovery journey after picking up a serious knee injury in April 2022, will find out during next year’s Paris Olympics whether he’ll take one of the four spots.

In all, 32 athletes are seeking election for the four available spots and athletes taking part in next year’s Olympics will get a vote. Those successful will serve an eight-year term.

New Zealand BMX rider Sarah Walker, who was an appointed – rather than elected – member of the commission, will finish her term at the next Games.

Daniell believes being on the commission goes hand in hand with his work at High Impact Athletes, an organisation he founded to enable athletes to donate to charities.

“I’ve been spending the vast majority of time while I’ve been off the tour trying to help athletes do charity better. It’s very much about using the power and influence of athletes to make the world a better place. The Olympic mission is quite literally to make the world a better place through sport, so there’s a huge amount of alignment with what I’m doing.

“If I make it onto the Athletes’ Commission, then I’m in a position where I can leverage the strength of the Olympic brand to do pretty cool things... By being in that position, I can better understand the inner workings of the sporting world and hopefully educate myself better and use the role to improve the world more than I could otherwise.”

The Commission is represented at all levels of decision-making at the IOC, so has significant power.

Daniell, who won a bronze medal with Michael Venus in the men’s doubles at the Tokyo Games, is continuing to ramp up his rehabilitation from the injury picked up while surfing early last year and he hopes to be ready in time for January’s ASB Classic, where he will likely be given one of the two doubles wildcards.

His first tournament in preparation for that will be the Wellington Open, which starts on Wednesday, where he’ll partner with Finn Reynolds.

“I was feeling worried a month ago, in trying to build capacity and ability to do enough hours on court I was getting quite a few niggles. I was worried they weren’t going to sort themselves out in time, but over the last few weeks I’ve started feeling like a tennis player again.

“The week just gone, Michael Venus has been back, so we’ve spent time on court almost every day and it’s awesome to feel that ball again. I found it energising to be on court with someone who plays at that level and I feel like I’m in a good spot now.

“I’m going on a family holiday for a few days, but I’m then going down to play the Wellington Open and then the Wellington and Papamoa Futures events, to get some match practice in before the season starts.

“I’m a bit surprised about it, but I’m actually feeling ready.”