Artem Sitak has been beaten in the final round of qualifying for the Heineken Open in Auckland today, losing 6-1 6-0 to Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Sitak, a Russian-born New Zealander, began the match well, comfortably holding his own serve and failing to capitalise on three break points, but could not win another game.
Sitak, ranked 433 in the world, was always going to find it tough against Mannarino, ranked 87th, but his form going into today's match had given him confidence.
The 25-year-old had beaten Denis Kudla of the USA and Slovak Dominik Hrbaty in the first two rounds of qualifying.
The only other New Zealand hope in the tournament, wild card Michael Venus, plays his first-round match against Santiago Giraldo tonight.
