Tennis: Michael Venus bounces back with win at ATP Finals

Raven Klaasen of South Africa and Michael Venus of New Zealand in conversation during their doubles round robin match against Nikola Mektic of Croatia and Alexander Peya of Austria. Photo / Getty

Kiwi Michael Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen have bounced back in their second round robin doubles match at the ATP Finals in London.

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

The win in an incredibly close match keeps Venus and Klaasen right in the hunt for the semifinals knowing victory in their final group match against second 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 semifinalists determined on a countback of sets won and if needed, games won.

Unlike their opening loss to Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares, Venus and Klaasen played the tie breakers well.

They only dropped three 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 US$100,000 ($147,790) just for qualifying for the ATP Finals and they get another US$38,000 for this morning's match win.

It's a potentially lucrative season finale for Venus who prior to London had earned US$543,000 in prize money in 2018.

The prize money in London jumps to US$103,000 for winning a semifinal and an additional US$200,000 for claiming the title.

The top two teams in each group advance to the semifinals. 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 semifinals.