5 Jul 2016

Doubles marathon stretches over two days

9:22 am on 5 July 2016

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus will have to wait another day to complete his marathon third round doubles match at Wimbledon, which is tied 13-13 in the fifth set after almost five hours.

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 deciding set was suspended due to bad light.

Venus and Croatian partner Mate Pavic are playing the third seeded pair of Scotland's Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares.

The 16th seeds have already taken four hours and 51 minutes in their comeback from two sets down and a break down in the final set as well.

The score is 3-6 6-7 6-4 6-4 13-13.

The match is scheduled to resume not before midnight, on one of the outer courts, No.17.

Venus has reached the third round of Grand Slam doubles on four previous occasions, including last year at Wimbledon where he and Pavic lost to the US Bryan brothers.

Earlier, fellow New Zealander Artem Sitak and German partner Laura Siegemund lost their second round mixed doubles 6-4 6-4 to the powerful veteran combination of India's Leander Paes and Swiss great Martina Hingis.