Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus got off to a winning start in Group Eltingh/Haarhuis at the Nitto ATP Finals on Sunday by denting the aspirations of Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who are vying to become year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings.
Eighth seeds Harrison and Venus, this year’s Roland Garros champions and making their debuts at The O2 this week, defeated second seeds Kontinen and Peers 6-4, 7-6(8) in 90 minutes.
Peers came under extreme pressure in his first three service games – resulting in deciding deuce points on each occasion. Harrison and Venus got their reward on Peers' serve at 4-4, when Kontinen hit a forehand volley into the net.
Harrison and Venus continued to play aggressively and in the ninth game broke Kontinen on a deciding deuce point. However, Venus was unable to close out the match as Kontinen and Peers upped the power level to take the set to a tie-break.
Harrison and Venus were unable to convert match points at 6/5 and 8/7, saving a set point at 6/7, prior to closing out their 19th match win of the season. They now have a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Kontinen and Peers, including a victory at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August.
It was Kontinen and Peers' first loss at the Nitto ATP Finals, which they won last year.
Harrison and Venus' victory means that Lukas Kubot and Marcelo Melo, who are competing in Group Woodforde/Woodbridge this week, could clinch the year-end doubles team No. 1 ranking on Monday should they win their first round-robin group match.
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