Memory of late father pushing Venus to victory

Kiwi tennis star Michael Venus will play for the memory of his late father at the French Open final in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Photo / file

Kiwi tennis star Michael Venus will play for the memory of his late father and number one fan in tomorrow's emotional and historic shot at a Grand Slam title.

An evocative storyline sits behind Venus' bid to lift the men's doubles trophy at the French Open in the early hours of tomorrow morning (NZ time).

Not only is Venus the first New Zealander to have a chance of winning a Grand Slam title in 38 years - since Judy Chaloner won the 1979 women's doubles title at the Australian Open with Diane Evers - but the biggest game of the 29-year-old Aucklander's career comes a year after the death of his beloved father, Venus' number one fan.

David Venus died on April 21 last year after a long battle with cancer. It was a special moment for the family that he was able to attend Michael's victory in the men's doubles of the ASB Classic in Auckland three months earlier.

While Michael won't be able to look up and see his father in the players' box tomorrow, David's memory will be there to help spur on what would not only be a landmark achievement for Kiwi tennis, but New Zealand sport.

"He would have been extremely proud," Lynne Venus told the Herald from Paris this morning.

"Dave saw Mike win in Auckland in 2016 and that was a hugely proud moment for him. He was probably Mike's biggest fan. He was always up in the middle of the night following the statistics that I could never keep up with.

"It's been tough, but he's here with us. There's an empty chair beside me at every game."​

Describing her son's journey through the iconic Paris tournament as a "rollercoaster", Lynne Venus said she is immensely proud of her boy and what he has already achieved this week.

On the road to the final with American doubles partner Ryan Harrison, the unseeded pair have eliminated the fourth seeds, Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Brazil's Marcelo Melo, and the seventh seeds, Croatian Ivan Dodig and Spaniard Marcel Granollers.

"He did say to me 'why are you coming to watch this tournament, because I've never won a set in this one before' but it just kind of fitted in with the annual leave that I could get from work because it is such a busy time to get time off," Lynne said.

"It's been amazing because we started on court four and have slowly gone to bigger stadiums with the Bullring, then the Suzanne Lenglen and the big [14,800 capacity] stadium tomorrow, which I've never been inside.

"We've been so well looked after in terms of being with Mike and being able to get into some of the facilities and box seats. It's just been absolutely amazing."

Lynne, who works as an emergency department nurse at Auckland's Waitakere Hospital, said she will try to keep her nerves in check tomorrow as Venus and Harrison try to overcome one more hurdle - Mexico's Santiago Gonzalez and American David Young.

"It's quite good to get away from the tennis and just chill out. Sally, his girlfriend, and I have just cooked dinner and Mike's doing a bit of stretching and rolling and will set off to bed shortly," she said.

"I try not to get nervous because I can't do anything about what's being done on the court. I'll just be sitting there in awe that he's out there at this huge stadium, playing these famous people and now he's becoming famous too.

"He's got three sisters, Sarah-Jane, Laura and Elizabeth and they're all back at home - all been glued to their phones, watching points tick over at odd hours of the night.

"It's been a cracker of a tournament, I have to say."