Michael Venus has parted ways with Nikola Mektic as his doubles partner and agreed to team up with India’s Yuki Bhambri.
Venus confirmed that he and Mektic, from Croatia, had agreed before Wimbledon that this would be their last tournament together, with both of them deciding they should part ways.
“We get on and nothing’s really happened,” Venus said.
“We just have a different philosophy or view on how we both like to go about things.
“We’ve been trying to find a way to make it work, but it feels like one person’s always going away from what they’re naturally comfortable doing to try and balance it out.
“So we talked and we both thought maybe it made more sense to try and find someone that we can work well with.”
Venus and Mektic started 2025 as a team and had instant success, winning the ASB Classic.
They also reached the semifinal in Miami and got to the final at Queen’s prior to Wimbledon.
But they have failed to win more than one match at 11 tournaments this year, including Wimbledon.
Venus said there were a few factors on and off the court which led to the split.
“It’s a little bit of everything, to be honest, on court, practice wise, how we like to go about things,” he said.
“Some people like to warm up closer to matches. Some like far away. How you like to practice the day before matches, how you want to work on things individually or as a team. If you have a different view on how you think should do it, that’s the tricky part.
“We still get on well and have had some good results, but we feel like for both of us to achieve or keep going with what we’re wanting to do, that we think it would help to have someone else that we work well with.”
Teaming up with Bhambri completes a circle for Venus, as they played doubles together at the beginning of their careers.
“I’ve known Yuki for a long time. We played the challenges together. Played Aussie Open for the first time together, when we got a wildcard and made third round there (in 2014).
“Obviously, he played singles for numerous years, and then he focused on doubles for the last couple years, and his ranking is at a point now where we could play (35). So we’ll start over the summer and see how it goes through it.”
Venus and Bhambri’s first tournament together will be in Los Cabos, Mexico, which starts on July 14.