Tennis: Venus knocked out in California

Michael Venus of New Zealand shows his frustration during his singles tennis match. Photo / Sarah Ivey

New Zealand's number one men's tennis player Michael Venus exited the Aptos Challenger tournament at the quarterfinals stage in California today after being beaten in straight sets by the top seed Russian Igor Kunitsyn.

Venus lost to the world number 62 6-3 6-4, but after winning his first two matches in the US$100,000 ($119,768) event at the Seascape Sports Club his world ranking should jump into the top 300 from his current position of 305.

Fellow New Zealand Davis Cup player Artem Sitak and his American doubles partner, Nick Monroe, are into the last four at the same event after defeating Serbia's Ilija Bozoljac and Britain's Ken Skupski 7-5 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

They face the top seeded Australians Carsten Ball and Chris Guccione in the semifinals.

- NZPA