Kiwi Michael Venus and Tim Puetz have fallen to top seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury in the final of the men's doubles at the Cincinnati Masters.
American Ram and Brit Salisbury prevailed via tiebreakers in both sets of their 7-6 7-6 win against Venus and his German cohort in a tightly contested encounter that lasted just under 100 minutes.
The 34-year-old Aucklander and Puetz forged their path to the showpiece match with a 6-3 6-3 quarter-final win over second-seeded Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos, where they saved all four break points they faced.
They were then handed a walkover in their semi-final, after opponents Holger Rune and Stefaons Tsitsipas withdrew, with the Greek world No.7 prioritising his singles final against Borna Coric.
Venus and Puetz were competing in their fifth ATP final of 2022. Their lone title this year came back in February at the ATP 500 tournament in Dubai.
Neverthless, Monday's final appearance will move Venus up four places in the ATP doubles world rankings to a career-high No. 7.
Their performance at Cincinnati bodes well for the upcoming US Open, which begins next Monday (NZ time). Venus last won a Grand Slam back in 2017, when he triumphed alongside South African Raven Klaasen.
