Tennis: Kiwi has double take on career

Michael Venus has been awarded a wildcard in the Heineken Open. Photo / Getty

Three days before what would be the biggest singles match of his life, Michael Venus has admitted his future in tennis lies in doubles.

The New Zealand No 1, awarded a wildcard for next week's Heineken Open, is one match away from a meeting with four-time champion and world No 10 David Ferrer.

But, while he acknowledges such an encounter is the stuff of dreams, Venus is realistic about making a habit of taking on the sport's biggest names.

A singles ranking that for two years has hovered between 300 and 500 precludes that possibility, while such a record also makes it difficult to earn a decent living doing what he loves.

Doubles, though, has opened a door for the 27-year-old. Venus last year enjoyed a breakout season in the discipline, earning US$84,000 and rising to a career-high ranking of 57. The sum was good for 40 per cent of Venus' career prizemoney and quadrupled the US$21,000 he made from singles.

Such calculations are rarely the reason an athlete enters a sport but, as Venus has found, they can be a very good justification for leaving.

To scrap away at Challenger tournaments and fight for ranking points, a player needs some capital to stay afloat, money that just wasn't arriving from singles. But last year's string of positive results in doubles - including reaching the third round at the Australian and US Opens - lightened some of the financial load and provided another potential pathway in the sport.

"Doubles has gone really well this last year," Venus said. "I'm just really comfortable on the doubles court. Coming forward is my game, being aggressive, so it translates well.

"It's helped out a lot more because hotels are paid for, so that's a bit of a burden that comes off your shoulders. So I've saved a little money and then it's a matter of putting that money back into yourself to back yourself to go higher and do better."

Achieving that aim will be aided by the presence of a consistent partner in Austrian Oliver Marach. The pair played together for the first time at last week's Challenger event in Chennai and, while they were unable to join forces in Auckland, Venus hopes a growing familiarity will help him realise his goal of getting inside the world's top 35.

Such a one-track focus has seen his singles ranking stall but that has been more about inactivity than a drop in performance.

"I've missed a lot of tournaments and haven't played a full schedule like I normally would," he said. "But I feel like how I'm playing is better than ever."

That will certainly be tested if Venus manages to get past an as-yet unknown qualifier in the first round, with a date awaiting on centre court against Ferrer.

"To see someone who's top 10, right there, pretty close to your name, it's pretty exciting. All the hard work you do at training, you always have dreams at night about playing the top guys."