More doubles success for New Zealanders
- Dave Worsley
- 1 day ago
- 2 min read
Doubles victories for New Zealanders Michael Venus and Erin Routliffe at the US Open with their respective partners.
Venus and Yuki Bhambri have moved into the third round of the men’s doubles after beating Gonzalo Escobar (Ecuador) and Mexico’s Miguel Reyes-Varela 6-1 7-5
Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski are through to the quarterfinals continuing their record of never having lost as a combination prior to the last eight at any Slam.
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For Venus and Bhambri it was another impressive display from Venus and Bhambri, who have continued to improve as a partnership since coming together after Wimbledon.
They comfortably took the first set, breaking their opponents’ serve on two occasions on Court 11.
But the second set was more of a battle and looked like it could go the way of Escobar and Reyes-Varela, as Bhambri had to save two set points when serving at 4-5.
However, both were saved and then the No 14 seeds broke Escobar’s serve in the next game to allow Venus to serve for the match.
The Kiwi completed that job with a backhand crosscourt winner from the back of the court on the first match point.
The victory moves Venus closer to emulating the quarterfinal appearance last year at the Open
Venus and Bhambri face the German combination of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in the next round.
Meanwihle Routliffe and Dabrowski had a 6-4 6-2 win over Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA) and Spain’s Cristina Bucsa.
The 2023 US Open champions went about their work in impressive fashion to beat the No 13 seeds, with Routliffe serving superbly and Dabrowski making the most of every opportunity she had at the net.
Routliffe and Dabrowski raced out to a 3-0 lead at the start of the match, before the latter had her serve broken in the next game.
But the Kiwi/Canadian players kept hold of their other break advantage and Routliffe held serve to love at 5-4 to secure the opening set.
Bucsa was broken in the first game of the next set and the match was effectively sealed when the Spaniard was broken again in her next service game.
After one hour and 20 minutes of play, Routliffe served out the match, with Melichar-Martinez overhitting a lob on the final point.
In the quarterfinals, Routliffe and Dabrowski will go up against the 11th seeded Timea Babos from Hungary and Brazil’s Luisa Stefani.
