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Michael Venus (born 16 October 1987), is a New Zealander professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. He has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 6, achieved on 29 August 2022. Venus won the
2017 French Open The 2017 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 121st edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 28 May to 11 June and consisted of ...
men's doubles partnering
Ryan Harrison Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Harrison has won one career ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 French Open. Before turning 16, Harriso ...
, and followed with a runner-up finish in the 2017 US Open mixed doubles partnering
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
. Venus and Harrison qualified for the year-end championships ATP Finals, where they reached the semifinals. In 2018 Venus made the men's doubles final at Wimbledon with
Raven Klaasen Raven Klaasen ( ; born 16 October 1982) is a South African professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2019, and has won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, includi ...
, losing to
Mike Bryan Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
and
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...
, and was a semifinalist in the mixed doubles there as well with
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
. He and Klaasen qualified for the ATP Finals, but won only one round-robin match. They also qualified in
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, finishing runners-up. In the meantime Venus and Chan Hao-ching again finished runners-up in the US Open mixed doubles. Venus and
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
qualified for the 2020 ATP Finals, but lost very close contests in all three of their round-robin matches. Venus won a bronze medal in the men's doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics alongside
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
.


Early years

Venus's family moved to the United States, where he won the Boys’ 18 National Clay Courts in 2006. His idols were
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ac ...
and Pete Sampras. He vacillated between going to college or turning professional and trying the senior tour, but decided to go for the College Conference. Having represented the U.S. through college, he switched nationalities in June 2010 to the country of his birth, and began playing for the
New Zealand Davis Cup team The New Zealand men's national tennis team represents New Zealand in Davis Cup tennis competition and are governed by Tennis New Zealand. New Zealand currently compete in Group II of the Asia/Oceania Zone. They have played in the World Group ...
.


College years to professional career

Venus transferred to
Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...
from the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
after his freshman year and sat out the 2006–2007 season, following
NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
guidelines. In his first year at LSU, Venus became the first LSU player to win the ITA Men’s All-American Championship at the national tournament in
Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
, Oklahoma in January 2008. He is one of only two Louisianan college players to finish in the top ten of the Campbell's ITA College Tennis Rankings in both singles and doubles in the same year (No. 7 in singles and No. 4 in doubles, respectively), which he accomplished in his final season in 2008–2009. He was a representative of the United States team in the BNP Paribas International University Challenge of Tennis in Poitiers,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
in December 2009.


2007

Venus finished the season winning the USA F26 Futures in doubles, partnering with Danny Bryan, losing only in the final of Thailand F3 Futures thus peaking at 866 in singles on the
ATP world tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organi ...
.


2008

Despite playing the final of Baton Rouge Challenger with partner
Ryan Harrison Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Harrison has won one career ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 French Open. Before turning 16, Harriso ...
, due to his singles performance Venus closed the year at the 1752nd position on the South African Airways
ATP rankings The Pepperstone ATP rankings are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all singles and doubles tournaments. The first rankings ...
.


2009

In July Venus clinched the title of USA F17 Futures beating
Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...
in the final. He reached the doubles final of the USA F19 Futures in August teaming with Colt Gaston losing in two straight sets. At the end of the month, Venus earned a wild card to the qualifying draw of the US Open in which he advanced to the second round overcoming Uruguay's Marcel Felder in two sets but failing to qualify by losing to Giovanni Lapentti of Ecuador. In October The Venus-Harrison pair won the USA F24 Futures against fellow Kudla-Sarmiento and in November playing with Gaston they lost in the championship match in the USA F27 Futures against the Armenian-Russian duo Martirosyan-Sitak. He reached his career year-end high of 587.


2010: Top 350 in singles

Venus won another futures the USA F13 Futures tournament but lost in his first ever challenger series final in Qarshi against Blaž Kavčič in two tie-breaker sets. In the same year he won his first Davis Cup match representing New Zealand. He advanced to 328 at year-end.


2017: French Open doubles champion, US Open mixed doubles finalist, ATP Tour Finals semifinalist

The standout year in Venus's career began when he teamed up with
Ryan Harrison Ryan Harrison (born May 7, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. Harrison has won one career ATP title in singles at the 2017 Memphis Open to go along with four in doubles, including the 2017 French Open. Before turning 16, Harriso ...
to play doubles together for the first time in several years. Not only did they win titles at the French Open and in
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...
but they also qualified for the end of season 2017 ATP World Tour Finals, where they lost in the semifinals. At the end of the year Venus was ranked number 15 in the world, with Harrison one place below. Venus's mixed doubles campaigns at Grand Slam events also improved through the year, losing in the first round in Melbourne, in the second in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, and in the third at Wimbledon , before going all the way to the final in New York.


2018: Wimbledon doubles finalist and mixed doubles semifinalist

Venus began the new year in Brisbane, where he teamed up with
Marcelo Demoliner Marcelo Fedrizzi Demoliner (born 18 January 1989) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he won his first title at the ATP 250 Antalya Open with Santiago González in June 2018, after having reached six finals at that ...
to win the first round but lose the second. Back to his home event in Auckland, Venus was given a wildcard into the singles, but was unfortunate enough to draw world No. 20 (and eventual winner)
Roberto Bautista-Agut Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista ...
in the first round, being beaten 6–2, 6–1. In the doubles, he and new partner
Raven Klaasen Raven Klaasen ( ; born 16 October 1982) is a South African professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 in August 2019, and has won 19 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, includi ...
won their first two matches before being beaten 7–6(7), 7–6(6) in their semi-final by
Max Mirnyi Maksim "Max" Mikalaevich Mirnyi ( be, Максім Мікалаевіч Мірны, ; russian: Максим Николаевич Мирный, ; born 6 July 1977) is a Belarusian former professional tennis player. Mirnyi became a doubles speci ...
and
Philipp Oswald Philipp Oswald (; born 23 January 1986) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily plays doubles events on the ATP Tour. On 7 December 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 206, and his highest doubles ranki ...
. Seeded 8th in the Australian Open, Venus and Klaasen lost in the first round a titanic first set tie-break 14–16, and a more straightforward one in the second set, to go down 7–6(14), 7–6(4) to
Scott Lipsky Scott Lipsky (born August 14, 1981 in Merrick, New York) is an American former professional tennis player and coach. As a player, Lipsky was primarily a doubles specialist. As a junior, Lipsky was ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in singles in 1995, an ...
and
David Marrero David Marrero Santana (; born 8 April 1980) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Marrero won 14 doubles titles and reaching a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 5 in November 2013. Professional career 2000–2007 Marrero earned h ...
. Venus and Chan won their first mixed doubles match comfortably, but were well-beaten in the second round by eventual semifinalists,
Marcelo Demoliner Marcelo Fedrizzi Demoliner (born 18 January 1989) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he won his first title at the ATP 250 Antalya Open with Santiago González in June 2018, after having reached six finals at that ...
and
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...
. The first round of the Asia/Pacific Group I Davis Cup took place in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, China, at the start of February. Venus played the second singles rubber for New Zealand after
Rubin Statham Rubin Statham (born 25 April 1987), often referred to by his nickname of "José," is a professional tennis player from New Zealand. His twin brother Mikal (usually referred to by his nickname of "Oliver") is also a professional tennis player. H ...
had won the first, but he lost to
Zhang Ze Zhang Ze (; ; born July 4, 1990), is a Chinese male tennis player. Zhang's career highlights include reaching the quarterfinals of the 2012 China Open (defeating Richard Gasquet en route), playing the Australian Open main draw in two consec ...
after winning the first set. New Zealand lost the doubles, and then the first reverse singles, so the dead fifth rubber was not played. His next ATP tournament was in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
, where he and Klaasen lost in the first round. They then went to Marseille, where they won the Open 13 Provence. It was special for Venus on two counts – he was winning the tournament for the second time, having been successful with
Mate Pavić Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won three titles in men's doubles: the 2018 Australian Open with Oliver Marach, th ...
in 2016, and it was also the first time that two New Zealanders had contested an
ATP World Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organi ...
doubles final on opposite sides of the net, the runners-up being
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
(New Zealand) and
Dominic Inglot Dominic Inglot ( ; born 6 March 1986) is a British former professional tennis player and a Davis Cup champion. A doubles specialist; he made the final of twenty seven ATP World Tour events, winning fourteen, including the Citi Open and Swiss In ...
. This had previously happened only in one Challenger (Daniell and
Rubin Statham Rubin Statham (born 25 April 1987), often referred to by his nickname of "José," is a professional tennis player from New Zealand. His twin brother Mikal (usually referred to by his nickname of "Oliver") is also a professional tennis player. H ...
in Adelaide in 2014) and several ITF Futures events. A week later they were in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, where they lost in the second round. Next stop on tour was the first Masters 1000 tournament for the year, in Indian Wells. Venus and Klaasen beat Colombians
Juan Sebastian Cabal ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
and Robert Farah in the first round, but were then well-beaten by eighth seeds
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Au ...
and Rajeev Ram. Ram and Klaasen had combined to win the tournament the previous year, but Dodig and Ram went out in the next round to the eventual champions,
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers ...
and
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...
. Venus and Klaasen had immediate revenge over Dodig and Ram, beating them in the first round at
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, before beating Isner and Donald Young in the second round. They lost a titanic quarter-final battle to the
Bryan brothers The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
, going down 8–10 in the match tie-break. Venus and Klaasen started the European clay-court season at the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
. After an easy win in the first round, and a walkover in the second, they lost 7–6(8), 6–3 to
Simone Bolelli Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional tennis player. Bolelli is a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open doubles event with Fabio Fognini, together becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a ...
and
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
in the quarterfinals. Looking to defend the title he had won at
Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has h ...
the previous year, Venus and Klaasen were beaten in the first round. In
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
they made it through to the quarterfinals, losing to Nikola Mektic and Alexander Peya, while in
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
they lost in the second round to
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
and
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
. Moving on to Roland-Garros to defend his title in the French Open, Venus and Klaasen were seeded tenth, and disposed of French teams in the first two rounds, before meeting eighth seeds Mektic and Peya in the third round. The higher-ranked pair were again their nemesis, but the win was not without a struggle, as the final score of 7–6(2), 7–6(4) would indicate. Venus and
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
teamed up again for the mixed doubles, but were well-beaten in the first round by Matwe Middelkoop and
Demi Schuurs Demi Schuurs (born 1 August 1993) is a professional Dutch tennis player who has specialized in doubles. She has won 15 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as one singles title and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. In February 2015, she ...
. Venus and Klaasen started their grass-court season at 's-Hertogenbosch, where Venus had won the title two years earlier with Mate Pavić. Ironically, it had been Klaasen who was on the losing end that day, and his then partner,
Dominic Inglot Dominic Inglot ( ; born 6 March 1986) is a British former professional tennis player and a Davis Cup champion. A doubles specialist; he made the final of twenty seven ATP World Tour events, winning fourteen, including the Citi Open and Swiss In ...
, faced the pair in the final, this time alongside Croatian
Franko Škugor Franko Škugor (; born 20 September 1987) is a Croatian professional tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and specialized in doubles. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 17 achieved on 22 April 2019. He i ...
. In a very tight match, it was the European pair who prevailed 7–6(3), 7–5. They then moved on to Halle where, as seeds, it was a surprise that they were beaten in the first round by Tim Puetz and
Jan-Lennard Struff Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
. Their last tournament before Wimbledon was at Eastbourne where, again slightly surprisingly, they lost in the second round to
Ken Ken or KEN may refer to: Entertainment * ''Ken'' (album), a 2017 album by Canadian indie rock band Destroyer. * ''Ken'' (film), 1964 Japanese film. * ''Ken'' (magazine), a large-format political magazine. * Ken Masters, a main character in ...
and
Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, havi ...
. Wimbledon would be another milestone in Venus's career, as he came so close to winning his second major title, and was only one step further back in pursuit of a mixed doubles crown as well. In the men's doubles, Venus and Klaasen had straightforward wins in the first two rounds, followed by marathon five set encounters in the next two over
Leonardo Mayer Leonardo Martín Mayer (; ''Mayer'' locally or , ; born May 15, 1987) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019. ...
and Joao Sousa and then
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
and
Bruno Soares Bruno Fraga Soares (; born 27 February 1982) is a Brazilian former professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. A doubles specialist, Soares won six major titles, the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 alongside Jamie Murray, and ...
, the latter a nice revenge for the loss in Rome. The semifinal win over
Frederik Nielsen Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
and
Joe Salisbury Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
took four sets, but the final against
Mike Bryan Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
and
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...
was a classic encounter: another five-set match in which all four players demonstrated moments of absolute magic, but it was the American pair who eventually prevailed, the final score being 6–3, 6–7(7), 6–3, 5–7, 7–5. Venus had a new partner in
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
for the mixed doubles. Seeded ninth, they had a bye in the first round, then took three sets to beat Andrei Vasilevski and
Anastasia Rodionova Anastasia (from el, Ἀναστασία, translit=Anastasía) is a feminine given name of Greek origin, derived from the Greek word (), meaning "resurrection". It is a popular name in Eastern Europe, particularly in Russia, where it was the most ...
, and three more to beat the fifth seeds Nikola Mektic and Venus's former doubles partner
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
in a gripping encounter. In the quarterfinals they had an easy finish over
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Au ...
and Chan's sister Latisha after splitting the first two sets, but Srebotnik losing her serve in both sets spelt the end of their run when they reached the semifinal, going down 6–4, 6–4, to
Nicole Melichar Nicole Melichar-Martinez (née Melichar; cz, Nicole Melicharová, ) is an American tennis player who specializes in doubles. She has won twelve doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one WTA 125 doubles title as well as two singles and seven double ...
and Alexander Peya. After a short break, Venus and Klaasen headed to Washington DC, where they went down in the semifinals of the Washington Open to
Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...
and Soares in straight sets, 7–5, 7–6(2). From there they went to the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
in Toronto, where they beat
Artem Sitak Artem Yurievich Sitak ( ; russian: Артём Юрьевич Ситак, Artyom Sitak; born 8 February 1986) is a Russian-born New Zealand professional tennis player. On 11 August 2008, he reached his highest Association of Tennis Profe ...
and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the first round, before defeating the seeded pairs of Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, their Wimbledon conquerors
Mike Bryan Michael Carl Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. With his twin brother Bob, he was the world's top doubles player for more than nine years, first achieving the top ranking in Septem ...
and
Jack Sock Jack Sock (born September 24, 1992) is an American professional tennis player. He has won four career ATP singles titles and 17 doubles titles, and has career-high rankings of world No. 8 in singles (on 20 November 2017) and world No. 2 in dou ...
, and finally the top seeds
Oliver Marach Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
and Mate Pavic to reach the final against second seeds
Henri Kontinen Henri Kontinen (; born 19 June 1990) is an inactive Finnish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. After being forced to end his singles career at a young age due to injuries, having reached a career-high ranking of ...
and
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
. They lost the first set when Klaasen lost both his service games, but saved three match points in the second set tie-break before eventually succumbing 10–6 in the match tie-break. They followed that up with the next Masters 1000 event, in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, where they lost in the second round to Kubot and Melo. In the US Open, Venus played both men's and mixed doubles, losing in the second round in both. In the men's event he and Klaasen were seeded eighth, but lost to Maximo Gonzalez and
Nicolás Jarry Nicolás Jarry Fillol (; born 11 October 1995) is a professional tennis player from Chile. He has won one tournament in singles and two in doubles on the ATP Tour. He achieved his highest ATP singles ranking of World No. 38 in July 2019, after ...
in straight sets after beating singles specialists Lukas Lacko and
John Millman John H. Millman OLY (born 14 June 1989) is an Australian professional tennis player and commentator. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in October 2018. He has won one ATP title in his career. Personal life Millman ...
. In the mixed doubles, he again played with Srebotnik, and they were the seventh seeds. They defeated former Grand Slam champions
Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988, in Filderstadt) is a German professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open in women's doubles with Vera Zvonareva, as well as the 2016 US Open in mi ...
and
Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
in the first round, before falling to
Raluca Olaru Ioana Raluca Olaru (born 3 March 1989) is a professional tennis player from Romania. The winner of 11 singles and 15 doubles ITF titles, Olaru reached one WTA singles final, at the 2009 Gastein Ladies,WTA TourPetkovic, Olaru Into Final(25 Jul ...
and
Franko Skugor Franko may refer to: * Franko (name), a given name and surname * Franko (bishop of Poznań), 11th-century Polish bishop * FranKo, a British pop rock band * '' Franko: The Crazy Revenge'', a 1994 computer game * Franko Escarpment, Antarctica ...
in the second, beaten 16–14 in a monumental match tie-break which lasted 22 minutes. From there Venus travelled to Korea, where he joined the New Zealand team in their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group I relegation playoff tie against the hosts. Playing only singles, Venus lost to
Lee Duck-hee Lee Duck-hee (이덕희; born 29 May 1998) is a South Korean professional tennis player. He has won 10 titles on the ITF Junior Circuit as a teenager, including Grade 2 tournaments in Nanjing and Sarawak. Personal life Lee was born deaf. ...
and
Hong Seong-chan Hong Seong-chan (born 30 June 1997) is a South Korean tennis player. Hong has a career high ATP singles ranking of 343 achieved on 24 October 2016. Hong reached the final of the 2015 Australian Open junior championships, falling to top see ...
. Losing the tie 2–3, New Zealand returned to the Asia/Oceania Group II for the first time in five years. Next stop on the tournament circuit was the Japan Open in Tokyo, where Venus and Klaasen went all the way to the final, where they were beaten by
Ben McLachlan Ben McLachlan ( ; マクラクラン 勉, ''Makurakuran Ben''; born 10 May 1992) is a Japanese professional tennis player who previously represented New Zealand. He is a doubles specialist with a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 18, achiev ...
and
Jan-Lennard Struff Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
. They got their revenge on that pair just days later, when beating them in the second round of the Shanghai Masters, before losing yet another close match with Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo. Venus then raced back to London to be with his fiancée, Sally Trafford, for the birth of their first child on October 14. A couple of weeks later it was time for the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association ...
, where they lost in the quarterfinals to
Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015. He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
and Horia Tecau. Having qualified for the
Nitto ATP Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles ...
, they disappointingly opened their round-robin with a loss in a match tie-break against Murray and Soares, before beating Mektic and a still-recovering Peya in two tie-break sets, but lost the final round-robin match to Cabal and Farah in straight sets.


2019: Australian Open quarterfinal, Top 10, Wimbledon semifinal, ATP Finals runner-up

Venus and Klaasen started the year in Auckland at the ASB Classic, where they had revenge for their loss in Miami to the Bryan brothers by beating them comfortably in the semifinal, before once again finding
Ben McLachlan Ben McLachlan ( ; マクラクラン 勉, ''Makurakuran Ben''; born 10 May 1992) is a Japanese professional tennis player who previously represented New Zealand. He is a doubles specialist with a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 18, achiev ...
and
Jan-Lennard Struff Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
too strong in a final, being beaten 6–3, 6–4. Seeded sixth, Venus and Klaasen lost the first set in their first round match at the Australian Open, but took the next two to beat Bradley Klahn and
Mikhail Kukushkin Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Михаил Александрович Кукушкин; born 26 December 1987) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. Before 2008, he played for his country of birth, Russ ...
. They then had straight sets wins over
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
and
Wesley Koolhof Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022. He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...
in the second round, and
Marcelo Demoliner Marcelo Fedrizzi Demoliner (born 18 January 1989) is a Brazilian professional tennis player. A doubles specialist, he won his first title at the ATP 250 Antalya Open with Santiago González in June 2018, after having reached six finals at that ...
and
Frederik Nielsen Frederik Løchte Nielsen (born 27 August 1983) is a former professional tennis player. He was the top ranked player from Denmark in the ATP doubles world rankings. A former Wimbledon men's doubles champion, he peaked at no. 17 in the rankin ...
in the third, before surprisingly being beaten in the quarterfinals by
Leonardo Mayer Leonardo Martín Mayer (; ''Mayer'' locally or , ; born May 15, 1987) is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Mayer achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 21 in June 2015 and world No. 48 in doubles in January 2019. ...
and
João Sousa João Pedro Coelho Marinho de Sousa (born 30 March 1989), known as João Sousa (), is a Portuguese professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 28 on 16 May 2016 and a doubles ranking of No. 26 on 13 May 2 ...
, 6–4, 7–6(6). Venus had another new partner in the mixed doubles, rising American star
Danielle Collins Danielle Rose Collins (born December 13, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She has reached career-high WTA rankings of No. 7 in singles and world No. 86 in doubles. Collins has won two WTA Tour singles titles, at the 2021 Palerm ...
, but they were beaten in the first round by
Chan Hao-ching Chan Hao-ching (; ; born September 19, 1993), also known as Angel Chan, is a Taiwanese professional tennis player. She is primarily a doubles specialist, having won 18 WTA, 2 WTA Challenger and 6 ITF titles in that discipline. Chan reached the ...
and
Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015. He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
. After consecutive first-round losses in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
,
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...
and
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, Venus and Klaasen turned the corner at the first ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, in Indian Wells. Seeded seventh, they gained revenge over McLachlan and Struff when beating them in the second round, before losing in a match tie-break in the quarter-finals to third seeds
Oliver Marach Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
and
Mate Pavić Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won three titles in men's doubles: the 2018 Australian Open with Oliver Marach, th ...
. They had saved two match points in the second set at 4–5, 30–40, but were eventually beaten 6–4, 6–7(5), 10–5. Another first round loss followed when they went to
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...
, this time to Matwe Middelkoop and Diego Schwartzman, before disaster struck when Venus took in an extra tournament for clay court practice before the next Masters 1000 tournament in
Monte Carlo Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
. He teamed up with
Tim Pütz Tim Pütz (; born 19 November 1987) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 on 29 August 2022, and has won seven doubles titles on the ATP Tour, most notably t ...
in Marrakech, but they had to retire from their first round match when Venus rolled his left ankle. What was initially thought to be a sprain at worst turned out to involve enough damage to the ankle ligaments to put his whole European clay court campaign in jeopardy, but he recovered so well that he was fit enough to return for the Italian Open a month later. He and Klaasen went all the way to the final, where they were beaten by
Juan Sebastian Cabal ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...
and Robert Farah. The French Open was a very disappointing tournament for Venus, beaten in the first round of both the men's doubles and
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
, the latter with a new partner in
Galina Voskoboeva Galina Olegovna Voskoboeva (russian: Галина Олеговна Воскобоева; born 18 December 1984) is a professional Russian-born Kazakhstani tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 42 on 7 May 2012. He ...
. From there it was on to grass for the first time this year, in
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
, where Venus and Klaasen lost to
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
and
Wesley Koolhof Wesley Koolhof (; born 17 April 1989) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 in doubles on 7 November 2022. He has won 14 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, mos ...
in the second round. They followed that up with their first title of the year, in Halle, beating Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo in the final for a perfect lead-up to Wimbledon. As a result he reached the top 10 on 24 June 2019. The home of grass court tennis proved almost as good to them as it had a year earlier, this time getting as far as the semifinals. Seeded third, they had three straight sets victories to start, before a marathon five set win over
Henri Kontinen Henri Kontinen (; born 19 June 1990) is an inactive Finnish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. After being forced to end his singles career at a young age due to injuries, having reached a career-high ranking of ...
and
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
in their quarterfinal. The semifinal saw them come up against Cabal and Farah yet again, the Colombians prevailing in four sets. They would go on to win the title and become joint world number one in the doubles rankings. Venus teamed up again with
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
for the mixed doubles, where they were seeded 10th and received a bye to the second round, where they lost a really tight match to the French Open semi-finalists
Nadiia Kichenok Nadiia Viktorivna Kichenok ( uk, Надія Вікторівна Кіченок, born 20 July 1992) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. On 6 January 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 100. On 31 January 2022, she ...
and
Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi (Punjabi, ; born 17 Mar 1980) is a Pakistani professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is the only Pakistani player ever to reach a Grand Slam final, having done so in both men's and mixed doubles at the ...
. The first stop in preparing for the US Open was in
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, where Venus and Klaasen took out their second ATP 500 title for the year, beating
Jean-Julien Rojer Jean-Julien Rojer (; ; born 25 August 1981) is a Dutch professional tennis player from Curaçao, who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 3 in November 2015. He is a four-time Grand Slam champion, hav ...
and
Horia Tecău Horia Tecău (; born January 19, 1985) is a Romanian former professional tennis player who specialised in doubles. He is a three-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Wimbledon Championships and 2017 US Open alongside Jean-Julien Roje ...
in the final. Venus said afterwards that the decider to win the title was possibly the best match tie-break they had ever played. At the
2019 US Open (tennis) The 2019 US Open was the 139th edition of tennis' US Open and the fourth and final Grand Slam event of the year. It was held on outdoor hard courts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City. Novak Djokovic and Naomi ...
, Venus again teamed with Klaasen as No. 3 seed in the men's doubles, and with Chan Hao-ching as No. 1 seed in the
mixed doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...
, the first time ever that a New Zealand player had been top seed in a Grand Slam event. In the men's doubles, Venus and Klaasen had an easy first round win against
Adrian Mannarino Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, attained on 19 March 2018. He won his first ATP Tour singles title at the 2019 Rosmalen Open on grass. He is c ...
and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
, the latter being badly hampered by an injury which he had picked up in his previous singles match. In the second round, though, they were beaten in a major upset by
Miomir Kecmanović Miomir Kecmanović ( sr-Cyrl, Миомир Кецмановић, ; born 31 August 1999) is a Serbian professional tennis player. Kecmanović reached his best singles ranking of world No. 28 on 24 October 2022 and he peaked at world No. 161 on 16 ...
and
Casper Ruud Casper Ruud (born 22 December 1998) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. Ruud has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 12 September 2022, making him the highest-ranked Norwegian tennis player in history. He has won nine ...
, in a match where their percentage of first serves in play was way below their opponents' level. In contrast to the men's doubles, Venus and Chan progressed majestically through their first four matches without dropping a set, beating
Latisha Chan Latisha Chan (born 17 August 1989), formerly known by her Chinese name Chan Yung-jan (; ), is a Taiwanese tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. She has won 33 career titles in doubles, including a Grand Slam title at the 2017 ...
and
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Au ...
, 7–6, 7–5, in the semifinal. In the final they came up against
Bethanie Mattek-Sands Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former w ...
and Jamie Murray who, incredibly, were not seeded, despite winning the previous year. The major difference between the pairs was that Chan could hold serve only once in the match, and the defending champions eventually won comfortably, 6–2, 6–3, in 59 minutes. It was Murray's third title in a row, having partnered
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
to beat Chan and Venus in 2017. A week later Venus was in Jakarta for the Davis Cup tie against
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
, where he and
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
had a very easy win in the doubles rubber. Venus then headed to China, where he and Klaasen lost in the first round in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
to the eventual champions, Ivan Dodig and
Filip Polášek Filip Polášek (; born 21 July 1985) is a Slovak professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He was forced to retire in 2013 due to health issues, but returned in 2018 and began the most successful phase of his career. Polášek wo ...
. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters to Jamie Murray and
Neal Skupski Neal Skupski (born 1 December 1989) is a British professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He achieved his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 1 on 14 November 2022. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in mixed doubles, havi ...
, and then found Dodig and Polášek too strong once again, this time in
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
. The last Masters tournament of the year is in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where Venus and Klaasen were upset in the first round by Marcus Daniell and
Philipp Oswald Philipp Oswald (; born 23 January 1986) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily plays doubles events on the ATP Tour. On 7 December 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 206, and his highest doubles ranki ...
. They moved on to the
ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results t ...
in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where they were seeded fifth. They won their first two round-robin matches before falling to Dodig and Polášek for a third successive time. They had already guaranteed themselves a semifinal position, though, where they beat the top seeds Cabal and Farah to gain revenge for their Wimbledon defeat. They had to save a match point at 8–9 in the second set tie-break, but won the first five points in the match tie-break on the way to a 6–7, 7–6, 10–6 victory. That put them up against the seventh seeds
Pierre-Hugues Herbert Pierre-Hugues Herbert (; born 18 March 1991) is a French professional tennis player. In doubles, he has completed the Career Grand Slam with titles at the 2015 US Open, the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, the 2018 French Open, the 2021 French Op ...
and
Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...
in the final. Just one service break was required in each set, with both teams saving two deciding points before the French pair won 6–3, 6–4. The bombshell announcement from Venus that the pair were to split, and that his new partner would be Australian
John Peers John William Peers (born 25 July 1988) is an Australian professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2017 Australian Open, where he and Henri Kontinen won the men's doubles event. Peers also ...
, came the same day.


2020: New partnership with Peers and three titles

Top seeds in their first appearance together, Venus and Peers were surprisingly beaten in two tie-break sets by
Artem Sitak Artem Yurievich Sitak ( ; russian: Артём Юрьевич Ситак, Artyom Sitak; born 8 February 1986) is a Russian-born New Zealand professional tennis player. On 11 August 2008, he reached his highest Association of Tennis Profe ...
and
Divij Sharan Divij Sharan (born 2 March 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. He specialises in doubles and competes on the ATP World Tour. He has won 5 ATP World Tour titles in men's doubles and represents India in the Davis Cup. He won a gold med ...
in the first round of the ASB Classic. They were seventh seeds in the Australian Open, losing in the third round to Marcelo Arevalo and
Jonny O'Mara Jonny O'Mara (born 2 March 1995) is a British tennis player. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of 44 achieved on 20 May 2019. He also has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 489 achieved on 10 April 2017. Career O'Mara won th ...
. Seeded fourth in the mixed doubles, Venus and Chan Hao-ching went out in the second round to
Łukasz Kubot Łukasz Kubot (; born 16 May 1982) is a Polish professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2014 Australian Open with Robert Lindstedt, as well as the 2017 W ...
and
Iga Świątek Iga Natalia Świątek (; born 31 May 2001) is a Polish professional tennis player. She is currently ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Świątek is a three-time major singles champion, having won the French Open in 20 ...
. Venus and Peers then lost in the first round in
Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...
before taking their first title as a pair, winning in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
over Klaasen and
Oliver Marach Oliver Marach (born 16 July 1980) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He achieved his highest singles ranking of world No. 82 in August 2005, but achieved most of his success in doubles where he reache ...
. They did not drop a set in the entire tournament. This was Venus's last match before international tennis was suspended due to the Covid-19 coronavirus. Venus and Peers started in the first ATP tournament after the tours resumed, the Western & Southern Open, this year held at Flushing Meadows as a lead-up to the US Open. They lost in the first round to Dan Evans and
David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
. Unseeded in the US Open because of the draw size being cut to half the normal numbers, they lost in the second round to
Sander Gillé Sander Gillé (born 15 January 1991) is a Belgian tennis player. Gillé has a career-high doubles ranking of World No. 24 by the ATP, achieved on 8 November 2021. He also has a career-high singles ranking of World No. 574, reached on 24 Decembe ...
and
Joran Vliegen Joran Vliegen (born 7 July 1993) is a Belgian tennis player. Vliegen has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 28 achieved on 14 June 2021. He also has a career high singles ranking of World No. 508 achieved on 1 August 2016. Vliegen wo ...
. They reached the semi-finals of the Italian Open, losing to Marcel Granollers and
Horacio Zeballos Horacio Zeballos Jr. (; born 27 April 1985) is an Argentine professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 39 achieved in March 2013 and his career-high doubles ranking is world No. 3 achieved in September 2019. In dou ...
, before winning the
Hamburg European Open The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...
, defeating
Ivan Dodig Ivan Dodig (; born 2 January 1985) is a Croatian professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He is a six-time Grand Slam champion, having won men's doubles titles at the 2015 French Open with Marcelo Melo, and the 2021 Au ...
and
Mate Pavić Mate Pavić (; born 4 July 1993) is a Croatian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won three titles in men's doubles: the 2018 Australian Open with Oliver Marach, th ...
in the final. Seeded 11th in the French Open, Venus and Peers were upset in the second round by Freddie Nielsen and
Tim Pütz Tim Pütz (; born 19 November 1987) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 on 29 August 2022, and has won seven doubles titles on the ATP Tour, most notably t ...
. They then went to the new ATP250 tournament in Santa Margherita di Pula, Sardinia, where they lost to eventual champions
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
and
Philipp Oswald Philipp Oswald (; born 23 January 1986) is an Austrian professional tennis player who primarily plays doubles events on the ATP Tour. On 7 December 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of world No. 206, and his highest doubles ranki ...
in the semi-final. They collected their third title of the year just a week later, beating
Rohan Bopanna Rohan Bopanna ( ; born 4 March 1980) is an Indian professional tennis player. His singles career-high ranking was world No. 213 in 2007 and his career-high ranking in doubles was world No. 3 on 22 July 2013. He has been a member of the Indian ...
and
Matwé Middelkoop Matwé Middelkoop (; born 3 September 1983) is a Dutch professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He has won 13 doubles titles on the ATP Tour, most notably the 2022 Rotterdam Open alongside Robin Haase, and reached a career high dou ...
in the final of the European Open in Antwerp. They lost in the first round in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
to French Open champions
Kevin Krawietz Kevin Krawietz (born 24 January 1992) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the French Open doubles title in both 2019 and 2020 alongside compatriot Andreas Mies. The ...
and Andreas Mies, and in the quarter-finals of the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association ...
to
Félix Auger-Aliassime Félix Auger-Aliassime (; born August 8, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. He is the second-youngest player ranked in the top 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has a career-high singles ranking of No. 6, whic ...
and
Hubert Hurkacz Hubert Hurkacz (; born 11 February 1997) is a Polish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved in November 2021, making him the high ...
, who would go on to win the title. Their final event for the season was the
Nitto ATP Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four Grand Slam (tennis)#Tournaments, majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles ...
in London, where they lost all three of their round-robin matches in very close contests which could each have gone the other way.


2021: New partnership, 15th & first Masters titles, Olympics bronze medalist

As was the case with so many other players, Covid-19 disrupted travel arrangements for Venus at the start of 2021. With his wife due to give birth to their second child in April, Venus elected to return home after the Australian Open, his only lead-up tournament being the Great Ocean Road Open due to the cancellation of the 2021 Auckland Open. With Peers unavailable before the Grand Slam event, Venus teamed up with
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
, the pair losing in the quarterfinals. Seeded tenth, Venus and Peers lost in the third round of the Australian Open to the fifth-seeded defending champions, and eventual runners-up, Rajeev Ram and
Joe Salisbury Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
. In July, with new partner
Tim Pütz Tim Pütz (; born 19 November 1987) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He reached his career-high doubles ranking of world No. 7 on 29 August 2022, and has won seven doubles titles on the ATP Tour, most notably t ...
, he won his 15th title at the ATP 500
Hamburg European Open The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...
. At the
2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
he won the bronze medal in doubles with fellow New Zealander
Marcus Daniell Marcus Daniell (born 9 November 1989) is a New Zealand professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 34 on 29 January 2018 after reaching the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. He won a bronze medal ...
defeating
Austin Krajicek Austin Krajicek (born June 16, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking in doubles of World No. 9 achieved on 7 November 2022 and in singles of World No. 94 achieved on October 26, 2015. He is a distant c ...
and
Tennys Sandgren Tennys Sandgren II ( ; born July 22, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 41 on January 14, 2019. He broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings toward the end of 2017 after comp ...
. He and Pütz got to the semifinals of the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is ...
, defeating second seeds
Joe Salisbury Joe Salisbury ( ; born 20 April 1992) is a British professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open and the 2022 US Open in men's ...
/ Rajeev Ram and fifth seeds
Kevin Krawietz Kevin Krawietz (born 24 January 1992) is a German professional tennis player who specialises in doubles. He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the French Open doubles title in both 2019 and 2020 alongside compatriot Andreas Mies. The ...
/ Horia Tecau before losing to Russian Duo
Andrey Rublev Andrey Andreyevich Rublev (russian: Андрей Андреевич Рублёв; born 20 October 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 5 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (AT ...
/ Aslan Karatsev. He won his first
ATP Masters 1000 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
title at the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association ...
, again with Pütz. As a result, he reached No. 15 in doubles on 8 November 2021.


2022: Second Australian Open quarterfinal & Masters final, World No. 6

Seeded sixth, he reached the quarterfinals of the Australian Open partnering with Pütz where they were defeated by eventual champions Kokkinakis/Kyrgios. Seeded 4th at the
2022 Dubai Tennis Championships The 2022 Dubai Tennis Championships (also known as the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships for sponsorship reasons) was an ATP 500 event on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 500 tournament on the 2022 WTA Tour. Both events were held at the Aviation C ...
they won the ATP 500 title defeating top-ranked Nikola Mektic / Mate Pavic. At the 2022 Halle Open he reached his third final of the season and fifth overall as a team with Putz. After a final showing at the
2022 Western & Southern Open The 2022 Western & Southern Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts from August 15–21, 2022, as part of the US Open Series. It was a Masters 1000 tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 tournament on ...
partnering again with Putz, he reached world No. 6 in the doubles rankings on 29 August 2022.


Significant finals


Grand Slam finals


Doubles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)


Mixed doubles: 2 (2 runner-ups)


Olympic medal finals


Doubles: 1 (bronze medal)


Year-end championships


Doubles: 1 (runner-up)


Masters 1000 finals


Doubles: 4 (1 title, 3 runner-ups)


ATP career finals


Doubles: 37 (17 titles, 20 runner-ups)


Challenger Tour/ITF finals


Singles: 7 (3 titles, 4 runner-ups)


Doubles: 21 (12 titles, 9 runner-ups)


Davis Cup (32)

* indicates the outcome of the Davis Cup match followed by the score, date, place of event, the zonal classification and its phase, and the court surface.


Performance timelines


Doubles

''Current through the 2022 Davis Cup.''


Mixed doubles

''Although the US and French Opens took place in 2020, mixed doubles were not included in either event due to the COVID-19 coronavirus.


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Venus, Michael LSU Tigers tennis players American male tennis players New Zealand emigrants to the United States New Zealand male tennis players Tennis players from Auckland Sportspeople from Orlando, Florida Tennis people from Florida Texas Longhorns men's tennis players 1987 births Living people Olympic tennis players of New Zealand Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's doubles Tennis players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for New Zealand Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in tennis