11 Jan 2011

Michael Venus bows out

12:44 pm on 11 January 2011

The New Zealand number one Michael Venus has made a first round exit from the Heineken tennis open in Auckland, losing in three sets to Tommy Robredo.

Venus gave the Auckland crowd a sniff of an upset when he went to 4-1 in the first set before allowing the Spanish former top five player to force a tie break.

Robredo went to a 5-1 lead but Venus regained his composure to take the tie break 7-5.

However Robredo broke serve in the fourth game of the second and went on to win it 6-3 before demolishing Venus 6-0 in the third.

Others to progress include Americans Michael Russell and Bobby Reynolds and Columbia's Santiago Giraldo.