3 Jul 2016

Venus into third round at Wimbledon

10:42 am on 3 July 2016

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus and partner Mate Pavic of Croatia have won through to the third round of the men's doubles at Wimbledon.

Mate Pavic (L) and Michael Venus in action at the 2016 ASB Classic, Auckland, New Zealand. Thursday 14 January 2016. Copyright Photo: Chris Symes / www.photosport.nz

Mate Pavic (L) and Michael Venus Photo: Photosport

The 16th seeds scored a 6-4 7-6 win over Argentina's Guillermo Duran and Maximo Gonzalez in one hour and 29 minutes, to equal their performance from last year when they made the third round before falling to the Bryan brothers of the USA.

Venus who is at a current career high ranking of 39 in the world, said it was a tricky match.

"These guys (Duran and Gonzalez) play a different style, serving and staying back, we've played them a few times so it was no surprise. I'm really happy to get through and look forward to the opportunity our next match will present," said Venus.

According to the seedings Venus and Pavic could play the third ranked Jamie Murray of Scotland and Bruno Soares (Brazil) in the third round, but they will need to wait another day or two before they know their rivals and get on the court again.

Venus also played his first round mixed doubles with Argentine Maria Irigoyen but lost 6-4 6-4 to Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Arantxa Parra Santonja from Spain.