KEY POINTS:
New Zealand's Ellen Barry exited at the semifinals stage of the US$25,000 ($36,530) Challenger clay court tennis tournament in Melbourne.
Barry, 18, lost to second seed Casey Dell'Acqua, of Australia, 6-4, 6-1.
Despite the result, Barry's world ranking is expected to improve about 60 placings to 520.
Meanwhile, another New Zealander, Leanne Baker, also bowed out in the semifinals of the doubles at a $75,000 tournament in the United States.
Baker and her Australian partner Nicole Kriz went down 6-4, 6-4 to third seeds Mervana Jugic Salkic, of Bosnia Herzegovina, and Turkey's Ipek Senoglu, in Minnesota.