Tennis: Statham and Venus in form in Australia

New Zealand tennis players Rubin Statham and Michael Venus have made good progress in the Traralgon Futures event in Victoria, Australia.

Both are in the singles quarterfinals and, as a combination, they have made it through to the doubles final of the US$15,000 tournament.

Statham defeated Australians Daniel Guccione in straight sets in the first round and Jacob Grills in the second round in three sets. He faces another local player, Luke Saville, in the quarterfinals.

Venus beat Leon Frost followed by Nick Lindahl and now plays second seed Matt Reid for a place in the semifinals.

In the doubles, Statham and Venus beat Adam Feeney and Jonathan Millman 4-6 6-3 10-8 in the semifinals to set up a title match against another Australian pair, Matthew Barton and Matthew Look.

Meanwhile, in the United States at the Birmingham Futures, Kiwi player Marvin Barker and his American doubles partner Dennis Nevolo have been beaten in the semifinals by the American doubles pair of Bjorn Fratangelo and Mitchell Krueger 7-6(5) 6-3.