Katie Boulter was bundled out of the Cincinnati Open in the first round with a straight-sets loss to Olga Danilovic, ending hopes of an all-British clash with Emma Raducanu.
Boulter was left to rue a desperately sluggish start as the 29-year-old was blown away 6-0 in the opening set, before rallying in the second but still being edged out 7-5.
The defeat drops Boulter to 50th in the world, the former British No 1 now sitting third behind both Raducanu (39th) and Sonay Kartal (48th) in the WTA rankings.
Serbia’s Danilovic is 43rd in the world and now faces Raducanu in the second round.
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Emma Raducanu has started working with Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig and says patience is required to improve her game.
Elsewhere, 45-year-old Venus Williams went down in straight sets to Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, losing 6-4 6-4 to her Spanish opponent.
A year after having surgery on her uterus after struggling with pain for years, she became the oldest woman to win a WTA match in more than two decades when defeating Peyton Stearns last month at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington.
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Venus Williams made a winning return to the sport in the Mubadala Citi DC Open.
That was her first tournament in 16 months and her first win since the 2023 Cincinnati Open, but the 22-year-old Bouzas Maneiro – not even born when Williams won the first four of her seven Grand Slam singles titles – proved too much on this occasion.
“Just coming back, not everything’s going to be perfect,” Williams said. “I had so much fun out there.
“There were moments where I had a lot of chances and there were moments where I was working through the kinks. But there was never a moment where I didn’t go for it.
“From DC, I took a lot of things physically. I played four matches in four days, I really worked on the physical side. After this match, I felt great and so that’s a plus.”
Next up for Williams is the US Open, where she has received a wild-card entry with Reilly Opelka to play in the mixed doubles event beginning August 19. Williams has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles with her sister Serena and another two in mixed doubles.
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British No 3 Jacob Fearnley was knocked out by Zizou Bergs in the first round in Cincinnati
In the men’s draw in Cincinnati, British No 3 Jacob Fearnley suffered a 6-1 6-4 loss to Belgium’s Zizou Bergs, who advances to a second-round meeting with Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego.
Fearnley struggled to make an impact on-serve throughout the match as Bergs wrapped up the result in just one hour and 20 minutes.
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