Katie Boulter produced a gutsy display against Ashlyn Krueger but failed to serve out for the match as she was beaten in the second qualifying round for the French Open.
On a difficult day for Britons attempting to progress into the Roland Garros main draw, Boulter joined Harriet Dart, Fran Jones, Liam Broady, Ryan Peniston and Jan Choinski in losing in Paris on Wednesday.
It means only Cameron Norrie, Dan Evans, Kyle Edmund and Jack Draper will fly the flag for Britain in the second major of 2023, following Andy Murray’s withdrawal and Emma Raducanu’s recent fitness woes.
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Boutler had been seeded 24th for qualifying but lost out 2-6 6-2 6-7 (6) to Krueger after a lengthy battle.
American Krueger claimed the opener before Boulter hit back to level, but then quickly found herself 5-2 down in the third set.
The British number three fought back to reel off four consecutive games to give herself the chance to serve out and progress into the final qualifying round but Krueger forced the tie-breaker.
It was then the teenager from Missouri, who had beaten Lily Miyazaki on Tuesday, who held her nerve to set up a third qualifying round meeting with Storm Sanders.
Boulter’s fellow British hopeful Jones saw her aspirations of making a first French Open appearance end after she had to retire during her match with Ylena In-Albon.
Jones, who suffers from a congenital condition which means she has three fingers and a thumb on each hand, three toes on one foot and four toes on the other, was left in tears as she had to retire due to an apparent shoulder injury when 4-1 down during the first set.
Dart also exited in the second qualifying stage after she was beaten by France’s Elsa Jacquemot 1-6 6-1 6-2.
It meant the trio joined Heather Watson, Katie Swan, Sonay Kartal and Miyazaki in failing to qualify for the French Open meaning there will be no British female involved in the singles’ event at Roland Garros.
Broady, the British male number five, also suffered defeat on the clay on Wednesday but only following a back and forth clash with Emilio Nava.
Broady lost an even opener before he hit back in style to inflict a bagel on Nava in the second. American Nava regrouped though and clinched the third to progress 6-4 0-6 6-3.
World number 191 Peniston was another to be edged out in third following a 2-6 6-2 6-4 loss to Romanian eighth seed Radu Albot.
Meanwhile, Choinski was beaten 3-6 6-4 6-0 by Sebastian Ofner.
Sabalenka marches on with comfortable win over Navarro
Aryna Sabalenka crushed Emma Navarro in straight sets to advance to the French Open quarter-finals, requiring just 71 minutes to clinch a 6-2 6-3 victory.
World number two Sabalenka had reached the last 16 without dropping a single set, only losing more than two games in one of six sets of tennis at this year's tournament.
It was more of the same on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday, the two-time grand slam winner's power and poise giving world number 22 Navarro few chances to make it a contest.
Sabalenka set the tone by breaking in the very first service game and was a set up within 32 minutes, winning 13 of 14 points behind her first serve in the opener.
Another quick break meant the second set followed a similar pattern, and though Navarro came through a couple of tough service games, she only delayed the inevitable as Sabalenka teed up a last-eight clash with either Varvara Gracheva or Mirra Andreeva.
Data Debrief: No denying Sabalenka
Sabalenka was beaten in her only previous meeting with Navarro at Indian Wells earlier this year, but she gave the American little hope of a repeat on Monday.
The victory made her just the seventh woman to make seven consecutive grand slam quarter-finals this century, after Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
The last major where Sabalenka was not involved in the last eight was the 2022 edition of Wimbledon, when Russian and Belarusian players were banned due to the war in Ukraine.
Rybakina eases past Svitolina to reach French Open quarter-finals
Elena Rybakina cruised past Elina Svitolina in just 69 minutes to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Monday.
Rybakina was hardly troubled as she reached the fifth grand slam quarter-final of her career with a 6-4 6-3 success, maintaining her record of not dropping a set at Roland Garros this year.
The world number four relied on her strong serve – winning 77 per cent of points behind her first serve – and quick movement to the net as she broke in the opening game of both sets.
Svitolina managed to break back on both occasions, only for Rybakina to find an extra gear and pull away in relative comfort, teeing up a last-eight clash with either Jasmine Paolini or Elina Avanesyan.
Data Debrief: Rybakina enjoying best year yet
Rybakina is into her ninth WTA-level quarter-final of 2024, which is already a career high for a single year and is also more than any other player on the tour this term (Iga Swiatek is second with eight).
The Kazakhstani is also just the second woman from an Asian nation to reach multiple grand slam quarter-finals on both clay and grass in the Open Era, after Kazuko Sawamatsu.
Sinner recovers to beat Moutet with classy performance
Jannik Sinner recovered from one set down to reach the French Open quarter-finals on Sunday, putting away home favourite Corentin Moutet with a classy display.
A huge upset looked possible when Moutet took the first set and broke early in the second, but Sinner fought back to post a deeply impressive 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-1 victory.
Sinner seemed to be caught off-guard by Moutet in the opener, the French showman sinking a series of delicious drop shots with the world number two on his heels.
Moutet carried that momentum into the second set, breaking straight away with his first four winners all being drop shots, yet Sinner soon learned, getting to the net well as he immediately broke back.
That was a theme of the contest from then on, with Sinner making few mistakes with his approach play and dispatching a series of volleys at the net as he took the second set.
Early in the third, it was the Italian pulling out the party tricks as he broke twice more en route to going a set up, much to the annoyance of a raucous crowd on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Moutet threw his racket down after seeing his serve broken again in the first game of the fourth set, and then attempted – in vain – to snap his racket when Sinner converted at the end of a long rally to make it a double break, his outing ending in frustration.
Data Debrief: All-rounder Sinner in great company
Sinner has become just the third male player since the year 2000 to reach multiple grand slam quarter-finals on every surface before turning 23, after Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
He will face Grigor Dimitrov in the quarter-finals after the 10th seed overcame world number eight Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets on Sunday.
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