Momentum building: Venus, Mektic eye deep Wimbledon run

Michael Venus has headed to Wimbledon with renewed confidence and momentum, following a strong grass-court swing alongside Croatian partner Nikola Mektic.

The pair have reached back-to-back semifinals or finals – first in Stuttgart, then at the prestigious Queen’s Club tournament in London – their best run since joining forces in January. 

Now they’ll look to carry that form into the year’s third Grand Slam, where both have a strong history on the lawns of SW19.

“Both of us, previously on grass with other partners, have done well,” Venus said. 

“We both like the surface, but just because of that, it doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily do well together. But it’s been really pleasing to see how our games match up on grass.”

Mektic won the Wimbledon title in 2021, while Venus was a finalist in 2018. Their combined experience, paired with this recent surge in form, could make the No 8 seeds one of the most dangerous pairs in the draw.

Venus admits their season until now has been somewhat inconsistent, with flashes of promise interrupted by narrow defeats in big moments. But the last few weeks have provided stability and belief.

“We’ve had a few good weeks earlier in the year, but they were in between some others where we had tough or close losses that we couldn’t quite get over the line,” he said. 

“So to have two weeks where we’ve consistently done well and gone deep into tournaments is a good sign and definitely builds confidence.”

One of the standout moments from their Queen’s campaign was the semifinal victory over Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic – a team that had previously beaten them in tight contests in Miami and Madrid this year.

“We've had two close losses to those guys,” Venus said. 

“In the semifinals in Miami, we were up a set and up in the second set tie breaker, and they played well. Then Madrid, in the quarterfinals, we were up a set and ended up losing in a super tiebreaker. 

“Potentially, if a couple of those points against them had gone our way, maybe we would be sitting a bit higher in the rankings.

“But to know how well those guys have played this year, and what they've done, to be playing consistently with them, and then actually get over the line, it was a good feeling.”

Off the court, the discussion around doubles’ visibility continues, particularly when it comes to scheduling finals. At Queen’s, the doubles final was played after the singles final, which was won by Carlos Alcaraz. 

Some in the crowd left before the end of the doubles final, which can often happen.

But for this year’s Wimbledon, organisers have reversed the schedule and on the last weekend, so it will be the doubles final starting at 1pm local time, followed by the women’s singles final at 4pm, so it’s unlikely Centre Court will be full at the beginning of the doubles final.

Venus doesn’t have a strong preference for when doubles finals should be scheduled.

“It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation,” he said. 

“You need to market it and get the players known, but at the same time, it has to be worthwhile for organisers to do that. I don’t know if there’s one right answer.”

What he does know is that he and Mektic are trending in the right direction at just the right time.