New Zealand's Michael Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen have been beaten in the quarter finals at the Madrid Masters.
Venus and his South African partner Raven Klaasen have been beaten 6-7 (4) 6-3 10-8 by the Croatian Austrian duo of Alexander Peya and Nikola Mektic. in 1 hr 21.
In an extremely tight first set where Venus and Klaasen saved the only break point on serve it was decided by a match tie break.
Venus and Klaasen got up early in the tiebreak and closed it out 7 points to 4. However their lead was shortlived as Mektic and Peya hit back early in the second with the only break of the match and never looked troubled on serve as Venus and Klaasen failed to conjure up a single break point chance.
Mektic and Peya took control early in the deciding match tie break and led 8-4 before Venus and Klaasen gave themselves a sniff closing to 9-8 down. But in the end it was a step too far as the Croatian and Austrian continued with their superb form to reach the semi finals.
Despite the loss Venus has matched his best performance in the Masters 1000 tournaments this season after making quarter finals in Miami and Monte Carlo. he will likely retain his current ATP ranking of 16 heading to next week's Rome Masters where he has no points to defend.
Meanwhile ex Kiwi Ben McLaughlin has also been beaten in the quarter finals in Madrid.
McLaughlin is from Queenstown but has a Japanese mum and plays for Japan. He and partner Jan-Lennard Struff have been beaten 6-2, 6-3 by the French pairing of Pierre Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.