LONDON – A greatly relieved Raven Klaasen (SA) and Michael Venus (NZ) became the first doubles team to reach the semifinals at this year’s Nitto ATP Finals in London.
They earned their place on Tuesday with a 6-3, 6-4 win against Lukasz Kubot (Poland) and Marcelo Melo (Brazil).
”Everything seems to be going great this week. We just keep trying to work hard and persevere together,” Venus said.
“We’re just happy to be playing this well at the end of the year and especially in London. It’s such a special event - the atmosphere makes it awesome to play out here.”
Raven Klaasen, left, and Michael Venus celebrate after defeating Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Marcelo Melo of Brazil. Photo: AP Photo/Alastair Grant
The South African-Kiwi pair are 2-0 in Group Jonas Bjorkman after also scoring a straight-sets win on Sunday against Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury.
"We’re really excited about how we played,” Klaasen said. “Mikey carried me out there today. We’re just happy to be through.”
Their next game will be against Ivan Dodig (Croatia) / Filip Polasek (Slovakia) on Thursday evening.