Tennis New Zealand optimistic Lewis will return to the sport

Jade Lewis. Photosport

The decision from young New Zealand tennis prospect Jade Lewis to put on hold her pro tennis career has the support of Tennis NZ High Performance Manager Simon Rea.

The 19 year old has gone back to college at the University of Louisiana to continue her studies after struggling to break through in the women's rankings since turning pro last June.

Lewis impressed against Venus Williams at last year's ASB Classic in Auckland and performed well for LSU in US college tennis before turning pro.

However she has struggled on the ITF circuit and after representing New Zealand at the Fed Cup tournament in Bahrain in February decided to hang up her racquets and focus on her studies.

"One of the things that is most important to us from a Tennis New Zealand perspective is that Jade's happy and we've always had a philosophy of happiness prioritised over success. So given her youth and the stage of her career that's she's at, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see her return to the game at a later point in time," Rea said

Lewis's had attracted the backing of the SEED Foundation who had previously backed Marina Erakovic and Sascha Jones but that support ended after she played a series of ITF tournaments in Egypt in February.

Rea thinks Lewis showed enough in her appearances at the ASB Classic to suggest she can make it as a pro should she choose to resume her pro career at some stage.

"It's uncanny when you look around the tennis world how often players will return from a break that is intended to be a permanent break and it often becomes a temporary break so I wouldn't be surprised to see Jade return to the courts in due course, and hope that's the case," Rea said.

Meanwhile in other tennis news Kiwi Michael Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen are through to the quarter finals at the Monte Carlo Masters without getting on court for their second round match.

Listen to "Game Set and Match podcast 17th April" on Spreaker.

Fifth seeds US Open champions Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau pulled out of their second round encounter through injury handing Venus and Klaasen a walkover win.

Venus and Klaasen will face Italian wildcards Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli for a place in the semi-finals tonight at 9pm NZT.