ASB Classic: Hometown hero Michael Venus robbed of Auckland crowning moment by doubles title default

Michael Venus has claimed another ASB Classic doubles title – though not in the way anyone would have expected.

The Kiwi and his Croatian tennis partner Nikola Mektic won by walkover on Saturday after a member of the opposing team, Rajeev Ram, pulled out due to injury hours before the match in Auckland.

The circumstances were strange – and obviously disappointing, especially for Venus, who was looking forward to another special occasion here.

“You want to play the final, especially being at home,” said Venus. “But these things happen, unfortunately.”

The 37-year-old was up early in light of the scheduled 11.30am start, before receiving a message from Ram as he was driving to the Mānuka Doctor Arena.

“He was just saying that he was hurting and wasn’t going to be able to play, and he just wanted to let us know,” said Venus.

Venus and Mektic played an exhibition set – as Kiwi Isaac Becroft joined Ram’s partner Christian Harrison – before they could collect the trophy, their first to share as a duo since teaming up at the end of last season.

It will be recorded as Venus’ second Auckland trophy after he won the tournament here with Mate Pavic in 2016, while Mektic has managed a remarkable three-peat after winning titles in the city in 2023 and 2024.

Venus becomes just the third Kiwi to win multiple doubles titles on these courts, after Chris Lewis (1977, 1983 and 1985) and Russell Simpson (1977, 1983).

And perhaps most significantly, it is the 25th ATP tournament win of his storied doubles career, beginning when he became a specialist more than 10 years ago.

“It’s quite a few,” said Venus. “I do remember the first couple times I was actually playing out here and playing [on a] stadium court, where they read out things before [the match] and the [opponents] had won a tonne of titles and Slams.”

“I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s crazy’. It was actually quite daunting, being on the other side – you’re warming up and you’re hearing them listing out all these things. So if you had told me [about the 25-win milestone then], I probably wouldn’t have believed it, and it’s really cool.

“But I’m keen to try [to] get some more. There’s still plenty of areas [where] I can improve, and I want to improve. I want to just keep working and see what I can add to that.”

Venus and Mektic are to head to Melbourne on Sunday, ahead of their first Australian Open campaign together.

“I feel great,” said Mektic. “Healthy. We had a great time in practice, good communication. Everything is very good. But that’s what I expected. I didn’t [think] that we would have any problems, so now it’s just for us to prove our worth and try to make the best results possible.”