Routliffe, Venus advance to second round at Roland Garros

Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus are through to the second round of the mixed doubles at Roland Garros.

On Thursday, the Kiwi duo defeated Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalikova and Britain’s Joe Salisbury 7–5, 6–3 in a match that lasted one hour and 23 minutes.

Routliffe and Venus regularly team up for mixed doubles at Grand Slams, and their growing partnership has helped establish them as one of the most formidable combinations in the game.

In this match, they showcased that chemistry, edging past tricky opponents in straight sets.

The first set was closely contested, with little separating the two teams. But when Mihalikova served at 5–6, Routliffe and Venus stepped up, earning four set points at 0–40. Mihalikova and Salisbury saved two, but on the third, Routliffe fired a powerful return that Salisbury couldn’t handle—prompting one of her trademark “come on” celebrations.

Momentum stayed with the New Zealanders in the second set. They broke Salisbury’s serve in the second game, with Mihalikova missing a smash on break point.

Routliffe and Venus had to dig deep again at 4–2, saving a deciding point on Routliffe’s serve—Venus finishing the rally with a commanding smash at the net.

They had two match points on Mihalikova’s serve in the next game but were unable to convert. However, Venus confidently served out the match in the following game to seal the win.