Brit Katie Boulter was knocked out in straight sets in the round of 16 at the Ningbo Open by sixth seed Beatriz Haddad Maia.
Boulter had won all her previous three matches against the Brazilian, although one came through an early retirement, but was edged out 7-6 (2) 7-5 in China.
The pair were neck and neck through the first set, with neither facing a break point, but sixth seed Haddad Maia dominated the tie-break and then broke serve to start the second set.
Boulter hit back to make it 2-2 and it was the British No 1 who looked the more likely to forge ahead only for Haddad Maia saved three more break points.
Boulter then paid for two double faults in the 11th game and Haddad Maia served out the victory to set up a quarter-final against Paula Badosa.
What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?
- Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20 – Dan Evans in action)
- Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
- Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
- Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
- Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
- Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
- Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TVstreaming service NOW and the Sky Sports appgiving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.
