Tennis: Venus into third round of the Australian Open doubles

Michael Venus is through to the third round of the Australian Open doubles. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Michael Venus is into the third round of the Australian Open men's doubles, capping off a great week for New Zealand male tennis.

Venus and partner Oliver Marach took down the fifth seeded duo of Bruno Soares and Alexander Peya 6-4 7-6 (7-5) in a thrilling match on Saturday evening.

Venus joins fellow Kiwi Artem Sitak in the third round, with Sitak and Benjamin Becker to play their third round match on Sunday.

It's the third time that Venus has reached this stage of a major, since he made his grand slam debut in Melbourne last year.

Saturday's match was a tense encounter, with the second set stretching on for a hour.

The highly rated combination of Soares and Peya - who reached the final of the 2013 US Open and have two Masters titles to their credit - were expected to prevail but didn't count on the skill and resilience of the Kiwi-Austrian pair.

After grabbing an early break in the first set, Venus and Marach served it out in 35 minutes.
Peya and Soares lifted the intensity in the second set but were unable to convert a couple of break point opportunities on the Marach serve.

The fifth seeds also held a set point at 6-5, 30-40, but the New Zealand No1 Venus saved it with a brilliant wide serve.

The tie-break had everything - aces, double faults, superb volleying and unbelievable rallying - and some of the best tennis of the match.

After edging to a 6-5 lead, Venus and Marach converted their first match point to the delight of the many Kiwis in the crowd.