Tennis: Venus Gives Kiwi Davis Cup team dream start

Michael Venus. Photo / Jason Oxenham.

Kiwi tennis No2 Michael Venus has given New Zealand the best possible start in the Asia/Oceania Group 1 Davis Cup final at Wilding Park in Christchurch.

Venus ranked over 500 in ATP singles but 44 in doubles came from two sets down to score a 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory over Indian No1 Somdev Devvarman, ranked 148th in the world in three hours 43 minutes.

The win was the second from two sets down for Venus in his career and gave his team some real positivity after the first two sets had the home side looking a little shaky.

"I wasn't doing anything wrong in the first couple of sets but he was playing very well and chasing everything down. I was able to up my game a bit more and really show some fight in the third set and from then I was able to stick to the game plan and keep going. It's one of my best wins of my career and it's against a guy who has been previously ranked in the top 100," said Venus.

The enthusiastic crowd was a part of the win for Venus who said that support and the willingness to help his team start well was huge.

"People don't always realise how hometown support can help. It was a great atmosphere. It's also great to take the pressure off the next player and have a win in the first match. There's a lot riding on this tie and it's a long way to come for a week, but it's the same for both teams and have to adjust your body and know the opposition are feeling the same way too."

New Zealand No1 Rubin Statham was to play Indian No2 Yuki Bhambri in the second singles of the day.

The doubles to be played on Saturday has the Kiwi combination of Artem Sitak and Marcus Daniell against world No10 Rohan Bopana and Saketh Myneni.

The reverse singles are held on Sunday.

The winner of the tie gains a spot in World Group playoffs in September with their opposition to come from nations such as Switzerland, Czech Republic, United States, Croatia and Japan.