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Routliffe injured, Venus seeded with new partner

New Zealand tennis player Erin Routliffe has had to withdraw from next week's ASB Classic in Auckland
Erin Routliffe (pictured) is out of the ASB Classic with injury while fellow Kiwi Michael Venus has a new doubles partner PHOTO: NZSW

New Zealand tennis player Erin Routliffe has had to withdraw from next week's ASB Classic in Auckland


The world No 2 doubles player was due to play with WTA Finals winning partner, Canadian Gaby Dabrowski , but Routliffe hasn't recovered in time from a rib injury suffered during the finals.


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It would have been the first time Routliffe and Dabrowski had played in Auckland together.


Routliffe will be hoping to recover in time for the Australian Open where she and Dabrowski would likely be the top seeds or seconds seeds. They reached the semifinals of the tournament last year.


Meanwhile Kiwi men's doubles player Michael Venus who is ranked individually at 17 in the world will combine with new partner Nickola Mektic from Croatia.


Mektic is a former top ranked player won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2021 and is currently ranked sixth in the world, together they are sixth on the Australian Open doubles entry list, but could go as high as fifth by the time the tournament starts.


Venus and Mektic will play Brisbane in the first week of the year followed by the ASB Classic and then Australian Open in Melbourne.

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