Disappointment for Venus and Puetz in Toronto

Michael Venus and his German partner Tim Puetz have suffered a disappointing first round exit from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Toronto. The seventh seeds reuniting for the first time since winning the Hamburg ATP 500 tournament on clay before the Olympics, have lost in straight sets to the Belgian pair of Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen.

Venus had come into the tournament full of confidence after his recent run of results, winning Hamburg, winning Olympic Bronze with Marcus Daniell, and finishing runner up with Neal Skupski at the ATP 500 tournament in Washington DC.

The Belgian combination won 7-5, 7-6 (3) in one hour 34 and Venus and Puetz will now head to Cincinnati for the Masters tournament there ahead of the US Open.

Meanwhile Ajeet Rai has won his first-round singles match at the ITF tournament in Monastir, beating American qualifier Kyle Seelig 6-1 7-5. Rai will face Australian fifth seed Dane Sweeny in the second round.