Klaasen/Venus Win First Team Title

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus clinched their first title as a team at the Open 13 Provence, defeating fourth seeds Marcus Daniell and Dominic Inglot 6-7(2), 6-3, 10/4 on Sunday.

Competing in their first tour-level final together, Klaasen and Venus battled past their opponents without dropping serve in 82 minutes. It is Klaasen’s 14th ATP World Tour doubles triumph and Venus’ eighth tournament crown. Venus has now won the title in Marseille on two occasions, having previously lifted the trophy with Mate Pavic in 2016.

“It is really exciting [to win our first title],” said Venus. “We have been working hard on the practice court, and every time we have been out there competing, we have felt like we have gotten more comfortable with each other… playing better each week. So we are really excited to get the title here and keep building on it.”

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The first set did not feature a single break point, with both teams holding serve with relative ease to force a tie-break. From there, Daniell and Inglot increased their level to secure two crucial mini-breaks and, with that, the opening set. Klaasen and Venus regrouped in the second set, grabbing the first break of the match before saving a break point in the next game to move ahead 4-1. Two further service holds were enough to take the final to a Match Tie-break.

The momentum had swung in favour of the top seeds, with Daniell and Inglot needing to quickly recover from dropping their first set of the tournament. Klaasen and Venus raced out to an 8/3 lead, and never looked back, clinching the title on their first championship point.

“It was a lot of fun today to play in front of such a big and enthusiastic crowd,” said Klaasen. “I am happy to celebrate our first title together.”

Klaasen and Venus will receive 250 ATP Doubles Rankings points and split €34,980, while Daniell and Inglot collect 150 points and a share of €18,390.

Did You Know?
Klaasen and Venus’ title run in Marseille was just their fourth tournament together. The two began their partnership at the ASB Classic in Auckland last month.