Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus continued their pursuit of a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in their first year as a pair with a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Steve Johnson and Diego Schwartzman in the first round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2018.
“Playing those guys, they’re obviously very good singles players and strike the ball well, so we knew we were going to have to play well,” Venus said. “It’s been a few weeks apart, so haven’t played some matches for a few weeks. So it’s great to get off the first one and play well. But there are some things we can hopefully work on and improve going forward.”
The South African-Kiwi duo converted on four of 10 break points they earned in the match, and won 79 per cent of first-serve points en route to a 73-minute victory. It was an important one to get through, as Klaasen and Venus are currently seventh in the ATP Doubles Race To London.
“It’s our primary focus right now. We try to take it match by match, but in the back of our heads, the goal is to end up in London,” Klaasen said. “I think all the players when they start the season, you kind of have that as a goal and we’re happy with where we are right now, but it’s not the first time either of us are in the Race, so we’ve got to stay focused to put some more wins on the board to make sure we get there.
“We’ve proven that we can play at a high level and the challenge is obviously to reproduce that as regularly as possible and I think our position in the Race proves that we’ve been able to find it more often than not. But again I think as tennis players we’re never satisfied.”
One might think that competing for a spot at the season finale would add more pressure, especially against players like Johnson and Schwartzman, who focus on their singles. But the winners said that they don’t see that as a burden, but a blessing.
“I think you use it for excitement. That’s kind of a cherry at the end for playing well and doing well,” Venus said. “There are some days obviously that you struggle with and are tougher than others. But if you’ve got that incentive at the end, you keep pushing together and hopefully end up there.”
In other doubles action, Hyeon Chung and Matthew Ebden defeated Richard Gasquet and Adrian Mannarino 6-4, 6-4. Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop, who have triumphed in Pune, Sofia and Umag this year, beat Daniil Medvedev and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-4, 6-3.
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