Katie Boulter pushed world number one Aryna Sabalenka before succumbing to
defeat in a second-round battle at the China Open.
The British number one continued her strong season by coming through qualifying and defeating Magdalena Frech in the first round in Beijing to set up a clash with Belarusian Sabalenka, playing her first event at the head of the rankings.
She came close to upsetting Sabalenka at Wimbledon two years ago and this was another tight encounter, with the British player serving for both sets before her opponent hit back to win 7-5 7-6 (2).
Fourth seed Jessica Pegula came from a set down to defeat Anna Blinkova 6-7 (2) 6-2 6-1, but Ons Jabeur saw her winning run end after her title in Ningbo last week, going down 7-6 (5) 6-1 to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.