New Zealand’s top ranked doubles player Michael Venus has qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals in London, but the big question now is whether he’ll play in it.
Venus and his Australian partner John Peers defeated American Austin Krajicek and Croatian Franko Skugor 6-4 7-6 to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters.
Their spot in the ATP Finals was confirmed when Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski lost their second-round match and it is the fourth year in a row that Venus has qualified for the prestigious season-ending tournament.
“It’s a great achievement given the quality of the players out there.” Venus said. “I’ve been lucky to have some great partners over the years that have helped me and I am just really excited that we have been able to finish the year on a high and be playing like this and hopefully we can win a few more matches here.”
Venus and Peers will face Canadian singles star Felix Augier Alliassime and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the Paris Masters quarterfinals.
But Venus’s participation in the ATP Finals remains in doubt. The tournament in London runs from November 15 to 22, but Venus can’t get a managed isolation voucher to return to New Zealand until December 20.
He already has a ticket and voucher to fly home next week, but if he took that flight he’d miss out on the ATP Finals and damage his chances of playing in next year’s Olympics, as his ranking would drop from eight in the world to around 20. Only the top 10 players are guaranteed to be in the draw for Tokyo.
If he stays in London until December 20, he wouldn’t be able to practice as Britain has gone into lockdown because of the coronavirus.
He has also not seen his pregnant wife Sally and two-year-old daughter Lila since early August.
Venus has applied for an emergency spot to come home earlier, after the tournament finishes at the O2 Arena.
“We have tried to find any avenue that’s possible and have applied for the emergency spots so just waiting to hear on that and hopefully something can come through and we will be able to finish the year by playing in London.” Venus said.
Tennis NZ high performance director Christophe Lambert said he’s doing all he can to help Venus out.
“The problem is many Kiwis want to come back at the same time and it’s difficult for him to change his flight,” Lambert said.
“He has a voucher, so that’s positive and it shows he was following the rules.
“What we’re trying to do is push his return back one week and postpone that voucher.
