Kiwi taking on world number one at Wimbledon

Michael Venus is facing his toughest challenge to date in the Wimbledon doubles tournament. Photo / Getty

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus will be going up against legends of the sport at Wimbledon.

Venus and his doubles partner Mate Pavic have progressed into the third round of the men's doubles tournament, where they fill face the dominant Bryan brothers - Bob and Mike.

Seeded number one, the Bryan brothers have won a remarkable 106 doubles titles in their storied career, including 16 grand slam titles.

In the past 10 years at Wimbledon, they have only been knocked out before the semifinals once, and hold a 63-13 lifetime record at the England tournament.

Venus has reached the third round of a Grand Slam on four occasions in doubles, but has never progressed past that point.

Meanwhile, there have been a couple of tough losses at Wimbledon overnight for New Zealand players, with both Artem Sitak and Marina Erakovic losing in tight contests.

Artem Sitak and American doubles partner Nicholas Monroe lost to Jamie Murray (Britain) and John Peers (Australia) in the second round, falling 7-5 4-6 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 in just over three hours.

Erakovic and Brit partner Heather Watson also fell in the second round, losing to the Spanish 16th seeded pair of Anabel Medina Garrigues and Aranxta Parra Santonja 6-7(2) 6-3 6-0 in one hour 38 minutes.