16 Jul 2011

Venus out but climbing, Sitak and partner into semis

5:27 pm on 16 July 2011

New Zealand tennis player Michael Venus has been beaten in the quarter-finals of the Aptos Challenger tournament in California by top seed and world number 62 Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-3 6-4.

The 23-year-old Venus should see his ATP ranking improve from its current position of 305 to around 290 when the 18 ATP ranking points his gains from making the quarters are added on.

Fellow Davis Cup player Artem Sitak and American doubles partner Nick Monroe are through to the semi-finals at the same event after defeating Ilija Bozoljac of Serbia and Britain's Ken Skupski 7-5 6-2 in the quarter-finals.

The pair now play the top seeded Australians Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione in the semis.