Katie Boulter was blown away by defending champion Elena Rybakina as British singles interest at Wimbledon came to an end in the third round.
Boulter cemented her new-found status as British number one by reaching the last 32 for a second successive year, and there were high hopes she could at least give third seed Rybakina a match.
Boulter has shown many times that she loves the big stage but, having waited until nearly 9pm to walk out on Centre Court following two lengthy matches and a rain delay, she managed to detain Rybakina for only 56 minutes in a 6-1 6-1 hammering.
After some positive results earlier in the week it has been a chastening two days for British tennis, with Andy Murray, Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady all falling on Friday.
Boulter pulled off the best win of her career in the second round here last year, defeating former finalist Karolina Pliskova, and in seven previous matches against top-10 players had only failed to win at least a set on one occasion.
She handled her status as favourite well to see off Daria Saville and Viktoriya Tomova in the first two rounds and was looking forward to having a crack at the defending champion.
Rybakina was a significant step up but the Kazakh had been shaky at times in her opening two rounds having come into the tournament under prepared because of illness.
She possesses probably the fiercest strike in the women’s game, though, as well as the best serve following Serena Williams’ retirement, and she hit her stride straight away.
Boulter has been working on adding more variety to her flat-hitting game but with options can come indecision and a couple of ill-advised drop shots cost her a break of serve for 3-1.
First-strike tennis usually favours Boulter but the power coming from Rybakina’s racket, particularly on her serve, was on another level.
The third seed, who remarkably is the first women’s defending champion to reach the fourth round here since Williams back in 2016, broke again for 5-1 and wrapped up the first set in 26 minutes.
Boulter’s support camp, including boyfriend Alex De Minaur, tried to lift her, and she halted the run of games against her at seven by holding for 1-2 in the second set.
That was as good as it got, though, with the score the same as last year’s third round, when Boulter lost to Frenchwoman Harmony Tan.
It has nevertheless been a positive fortnight and a transformative grass-court season for Boulter, who will be ranked just outside the top 70 on Monday and now has the chance to really push on.
Sinner will only play Roland Garros if '100 per cent' fit
Jannik Sinner says that he is aiming to make a return for Roland-Garros if he is "100 per cent" fit following a hip issue.
The world number two withdrew from the Madrid Open last week ahead of his quarter-final tie with Felix Auger-Aliassime due to the injury.
Sinner confirmed on Saturday that he will not be playing in what would be a home tournament in Rome.
Providing an update on his progress on Sunday, Sinner said: "I went back to Monte-Carlo, we did some more tests, which made me take this hard decision because I have to skip the most special tournament of the year for me.
"I have to accept it even if it hurts me and many fans. We realised something is not totally good. If it is not 100 per cent healed, I'll stay out a little longer. Caring for the body is much more important than everything else.
"I’ll just try to get back to 100 per cent as soon as possible, hopefully trying to play in Paris and then Wimbledon and all the rest.
"We'll take our time, there's no rush and, hopefully, I can get back very, very soon."
Nadal and Djokovic on opposite sides of Italian Open draw
Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic could meet in the Italian Open final after being positioned on opposite sides of the draw.
Nadal, a record 10-time champion at the tournament, could meet reigning champion Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals should they both get that far, while newly crowned Madrid Open winner, Andrey Rublev, would be a potential semi-final opponent.
In the top half of the draw, Djokovic will take on either Roman Safiullin or a qualifier in his first competitive appearance since Monte Carlo.
The Serbian, who is just two wins away from his 1100th tour-level career victory, is seeded to face Casper Ruud in the quarter-finals. Alexander Zverev and Grigor Dimitrov are also on their side of the draw.
Meanwhile, top seed Iga Swiatek has been drawn in the opposite half of the draw to Elena Rybakina, the reigning Italian Open champion.
Swiatek is projected to face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals for the second consecutive WTA 1000 event should they both progress.
Rybakina is due to meet second seed Aryna Sabalenka at the same stage, having lost to the Belarusian at last week’s Madrid Open semi-finals.
'It can only get better' - Sabalenka leaving Madrid Open 'with positive thoughts' despite Swiatek defeat
Aryna Sabalenka is encouraged by her run to the Madrid Open final and feels her performance levels "can only get better", despite defeat by Iga Swiatek.
In a repeat of last year's showpiece, the world number two went down 7-5 4-6 7-6 (9-7) in a thrilling encounter with the Pole, who avenged her loss from 12 months ago.
Sabalenka, who saw three championship points go begging, narrowly missed out on becoming only the second woman to win three titles in Madrid after Petra Kvitova.
Nevertheless, the reigning Australian Open champion reached her first final since triumphing in Melbourne, while extending her winning streak in the Spanish capital to 11 matches before defeat to the world number one.
"I really want to see many more finals against [Swiatek]. I want to see more wins than losses," she said. "But I really hope that we'll be able to keep the level or increase the level every year.
"I'm happy with the level I played, with the effort I put into this match and into this week. I'm leaving Madrid with positive thoughts.
"Probably when I broke [Swiatek] in the third set, I should have been more focused on my serve. But at the same time, it's not like I double-faulted; she played great tennis, and she broke me back.
"I think after the Australian Open, I struggled for a couple of months. It's been intense. I'm super happy that, here in Madrid, I was able to bring it all together and be able to get back to my level. It can only get better from now on."
Swiatek was not to be denied a third title of the season - a tally only matched by Elena Rybakina - and she has now won each of her last seven WTA Tour-level finals since losing out to Sabalenka in Madrid last year.
The three-time French Open champion has also now triumphed in every European clay court tournament at WTA 500 level or higher.
"When I look back in maybe a few years, it will mean a lot," the Pole said. "But for now, I'm just happy that I won this tournament anyway. It doesn't matter to me if I won it before or not. I try to win each tournament that I play.
"I think it was more about who was going to be less stressed and who was going to be able to play with more freedom.
"For most of the match, I felt like some decisions [from her] were pretty courageous. I was sometimes a little bit back. So, in the end, I just wanted not to do that and to also be courageous.
"I don't know what made a difference. I think we both deserved to win; I think it was only about those little points in the tiebreaker."
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