14 Nov 2018

Michael Venus picks up a win at ATP Finals

9:45 am on 14 November 2018

The New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and his South African doubles partner Raven Klaasen have won their second round robin match at the ATP Finals in London.

The 6th seeds at the elite season ending tournament featuring the top 8 teams on tour this year, have beaten Croatian Nikola Mektic and Austrian Alexander Peya 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5) in 1 hour 42.

Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen.

Michael Venus and Raven Klaasen. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The win in an incredibly close match keeps Venus and Klaasen right in the hunt for the semi-finals knowing victory in their final group match against 2nd seeds Robert Farah and Juan-Sebastian Cabal will almost certainly qualify them for the last four.

There is a chance three pairs could end up with two round robin wins each which would see the semi finalists determined on a countback of sets won and if needed, games won.

As the score suggests it was a tight match throughout and unlike their opening loss to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, Venus and Klaasen played the tie breakers well.

They only dropped 3 points in the match on first serve but were only successful on just one of seven break point chances, saving two of three break points against their own serve. They will be relieved to have closed the match out in two tie breakers as they won 82 points to 68 for their opponents during the match.

The win avenges two defeats by Mektic and Peya this year in the third round of the French Open and quarter finals of the Madrid Masters, both on clay.

Venus and Klaasen earned a share of $100,000 USD just for qualifying for the ATP Finals and they get another $38,000 USD for this morning's match win.

The top two teams in each group advance to the semi-finals. Last year Venus made his debut at the O2 Arena with American Ryan Harrison and they won their three round robin matches before losing in the semi-finals.