Emma Raducanu’s dominant form at the Cincinnati Open ended as seventh seed Jessica Pegula proved a sharp step up in class for the British number one.
Raducanu had trounced veterans Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, but lost 7-5 6-4 to Pegula in the last 16.
Now the 19-year-old switches her focus to defending her crown at the US Open, which starts in New York on 29 August.
Cameron Norrie continued the British interest by beating Ben Shelton to reach the men’s quarter-finals.
British men’s number one Norrie, seeded ninth, won 6-0 6-2 against the teenage American wildcard as the gulf between the pair showed.
Norrie, who beat Andy Murray in the previous round, secured victory in just 57 minutes and will play Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who is seeded third, in the quarter-finals.
Following her defeat by Pegula, Raducanu said her time in Cincinnati had shown that making mistakes is not necessarily a step backwards.
“In the past year it’s one of the few tournaments that I have started going for my shots more,” she said.
“This week I was like, ‘look, I’m just going to try, I don’t care if I make errors, it’s fine, I’m just going to overhit if anything’.
“I’m pretty proud of how I did this week, it’s a great step to move forward.”
Defeat but renewed hope for Raducanu after positive week
Optimism around Raducanu increased after her statement wins against 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams and fellow major winner Azarenka, albeit with the caveat that both of her ageing opponents are nowhere near their prime.
Against Williams, the world number 13 produced probably her best performance since her shock win at the US Open last year, backing that up with another confident display against an out-of-sorts Azarenka.
Dropping just six games combined in the two victories – each lasting a little over an hour – was a welcome boost for Raducanu after a tough year.
But facing the consistent Pegula was always likely to provide a better assessment of where the Briton’s game is.
It was only the second time in Raducanu’s burgeoning career that she has faced a top-10 ranked opponent and, in Pegula, one who has racked up the second highest number of WTA 1000 match wins since the start of 2021.
After losing serve in the third game of the match, Raducanu broke straight back but continued to be put under pressure by Pegula’s heavier ball-striking.
Raducanu fought off three more break points to hold for 3-2, and another…
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