18 Nov 2017

Another big payday looming for Venus

11:59 am on 18 November 2017

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus is two wins away from a payday of more than $350,000.

Michael Venus (right) and Ryan Harrison discuss tactics.

Michael Venus (right) and Ryan Harrison discuss tactics. Photo: Wimbledon

Winners of the French Open crown in June, Venus and American partner Ryan Harrison will face the top ranked doubles team in the world in the semifinals of the ATP Finals in London early on Sunday morning (NZ time).

The pair take on Poland's Lukasz Kubot and Brazil's Marcelo Melo for a spot in the title decider after the latter suffered a straight sets loss to Britain's Jamie Murray and Brazil's Bruno Soares in their final round robin match.

The New Zealand-US combination won all three of their round-robin matches, earning $52,000 for each victory to go with almost $140,000 for simply taking part in the tournament.

An additional $140,000 is up for grabs for a semifinal victory, while they would pocket$188,000 for winning the event.

All up, it means they would share more than $700,000 if they are able to lift the silverware in London.

For Venus and Harrison, who also collected a split of $850,000 for their French Open triumph, the match against Kubot and Melo will evoke memories of their second round clash at Roland Garros in June.

On that occasion, Venus and Harrison beat their highly ranked opponents 6-4 6-7 6-3 on their way to their first Grand Slam title.

Since then, though, the Polish-Brazilian duo have stepped up to win Wimbledon and a fortnight ago they took out the Paris Masters, bringing their total titles in 2017 to six.

Kubot and Melo will end the year ranked number one and Venus is under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task they face.

"They have taken their game to another level since we played them at Roland Garros." the New Zealander said.

"But Ryan and I have gained a lot of confidence with each match this weekend believe and trust in our abilities so we are looking forward to a tough match tomorrow."

Murray and Soares will face Finland's Henri Kontinen and Australian John Peers in the other semifinal.

Venus and Harrison play their semifinal at 1am NZ time.