Klaasen/Venus Make Fast Start In London

Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus made a winning start to Group Jonas Bjorkman play on Sunday, beating Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 6-3, 6-4 at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Making their second straight appearance at The O2, the fifth seeds saved all four break points they faced to claim victory in 64 minutes. Klaasen and Venus improve to 33-17 this year, highlighted by ATP 500 title runs in Halle and Washington, D.C.

After saving two break points with quick net reactions in the opening game of the match, Klaasen and Venus soon claimed an early break to establish a 3-1 lead. Both men fired return winners to earn four break points, before Klaasen secured the break with a backhand volley after a strong forehand return from Venus. The fifth seeds closed out the set after 30 minutes, with Venus finding his best level on serve from 30/40.

With the opening six games of the second set dominated by serve, Klaasen and Venus returned with creativity and closed the net well in the seventh game. The Halle and Washington champions moved into a 4-3 lead after a double fault from Salisbury, before closing out the win as Ram fired a forehand into the net.

In the evening session, fellow Group Jonas Bjorkman teams Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo and Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek will attempt to join Klaasen and Venus with a Day 1 victory. Dodig and Polasek lead the 2017 finalists 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series, with each of their three previous encounters taking place this year.

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