Routliffe, Venus bow out in semifinals

Erin Routliffe and Michael Venus were beaten in their respective semifinals but will take confidence from strong performances to start the grass court season.

In ’s-Hertogenbosch, in the Netherlands, Venus and Nikola Mektic lost a nail biter of a match 7-5 6-7(5) 10-6 against the Australian duo Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson. 

In the deciding set tiebreak, Ebden and Thompson raced to a 5-1 lead. Venus and Mektic closed the gap from 8-3 to 8-6, but a double fault then ended their comeback.

The Australians then held serve on their first match point to secure their spot in the final.

Meanwhile, at Queen’s Club in London, Routliffe and her temporary partner, Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine, lost 6-1, 6-2 to Asia Muhammad of the United States and the Netherlands’ Demi Schuurs.

The match went for just under an hour, with Routliffe and Lyudmyla saving four of the 10 break points they faced.

By reaching the semifinals, Venus is projected to stay at 18 in the men’s world rankings. Routliffe will remain at No 3 in the women’s rankings, which is where she’s been for most of this year.