Venus, Skupski lose in Paris Masters semifinals

Michael Venus and Neal Skupski have lost 6-2 6-4 to Wesley Koolhof from the Netherlands and Croatia’s Nikola Mektic in the semifinals of the Paris Masters.

Venus was aiming to reach the final of the prestigious late season tournament for the second time in his career, but on this occasion it wasn’t to be his day as Koolhof and Mekric played a superb match.

The contest didn’t start well for the Kiwi/British team, with Venus being broken in the opening game and Koolhof and Mektic got another break four games later to take control of the first set.

The second set was tighter, but at 3-3 on Venus’s serve the game went to a deciding point and on it Koolhof played a miraculous shot at the net, managing to volley a winner while avoiding being hit by a powerful groundstroke from Venus.

That game Koolhof and Mektic the crucial break they needed and even though Skupski saved three match points when serving at 3-5, Koolhof served out the next game, finishing with an ace, to book a spot in the final for himself and Mektic.

By reaching the semifinals, Venus is expected to stay at No 20 in the world when the rankings are next updated.

Venus and Skupski have entered a Challenger tournament in Helsinki, Finland next week. 

They are the top seeds for the tournament and have been drawn against Alibek Kachmazov and Denis Yevseyev in the opening round.