Venus and Peers reach their 2nd ATP Final together
Michael Venus and his Australian doubles partner John Peers have rallied from losing the first set to reach the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Hamburg, the European Open.
Venus and Peers have beaten Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer and Romania’s Horia Tecau 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 in 1 hour 28. They will face the Croatian pair of Ivan Dodig and Mate Pavic for the title. Venus and Pavic are former doubles partners. It’s the second final of the year for the Antipodean duo after they won the ATP500 tournament together in Dubai just before the Covid-19 enforced shutdown of the tour.
Venus and Peers got off to a slow start in this morning’s semi final but fought their way back into the match in the second set and played a strong match tie break. They led 6-2 and withstood a fightback from Rojer and Tecau before winning four points in a row to close out the victory.
Venus and Peers are in superb form ahead of the French Open which starts tonight in Paris having reached the semi finals last week at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Rome. Their recent results have lifted them to fourth in the race to qualify for the lucrative ATP Finals in London in November.
The doubles draw for Roland Garros is due out tonight. Venus will be joined by Marcus Daniell and Artem Sitak in the draw. Sitak and his Slovakian doubles partner Igor Zelenay were first alternates but have got in due to the withdrawal of Spain’s Fernando Verdasco, who tested positive to Covid-19.