Emma Raducanu attempted a miraculous recovery but just fell short in a dramatic three-set defeat to Maya Joint at the Lexus Eastbourne Open.
Raducanu won the first set only to see the 19-year-old Australian claim the next two, winning 11 out of the next 14 games to put herself on the brink of victory.
But the British No 1 almost snatched a dramatic victory from the jaws of defeat, coming back when Joint had a double-break lead to take the final set into a tie-breaker.
Rising star Joint ultimately prevailed 4-6 6-1 7-6 (7-4) to move into the quarter-finals at Devonshire Park
The tide had turned when Raducanu gave away her first service game of the second set, with Joint breaking and then consolidating to go ahead 3-0.
Raducanu was then taken to break point repeatedly. She had to struggle to fight back and pick up her first game of the set.
Joint kept Raducanu’s serve under pressure as she hunted a second break. The Briton came forward to volley the ball away from Joint, yet errors still corroded her play. A forehand miss brought them to deuce and Raducanu netted to give her opponent another break point, which the Australian converted.
Joint, ranked 51 in the world, served out the second set to take them into a decider where the former US Open champion looked beaten, trailing 5-2.
But she produced an inspired spell, breaking Joint three times when she was serving for the match, to set up a tie-break.
Victory was in sight when she got a mini-break to lead 4-3 but Joint reeled off four successive points to claim victory and deny Raducanu a dramatic comeback win.
Raducanu will now head to Wimbledon where she reached the fourth round last year
Raducanu revealed on Tuesday after her opening round win that she had received “some pretty bad news” and that perhaps affected her as she seemed subdued on court and looked increasingly leggy in the deciding set.
The 22-year-old will now head to London where she will prepare for her Wimbledon campaign, the scene of her 2021 breakthrough. She will be the main home hope for a first British women’s champion at Wimbledon since 1977.
Joint: Glad I could tough it out
Joint, ranked 51 in the world, is a rising star in the women’s game
“I try to hit the lines, it doesn’t always work. I’m an aggressive player, I like to use my backhand and I’m trying to learn to play on all courts,” said Joint, who will face Anna Blinkova next after she beat New Zealand’s Lulu Sun in straight sets.
“Today was really tough, there were a lot of ups and downs and momentum switches. I was really glad I could tough it out in the end. The atmosphere was amazing.”
Tale of the Tape
Burrage beaten amid broken net controversy
Jodie Burrage was unable to take three match points against Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova
Jodie Burrage squandered three match points in a tough 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-3) defeat to Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Czech Krejcikova, who also survived match points against Harriet Dart in the previous round, battled past world No 164 Burrage in two hours and 26 minutes, despite being troubled by a thigh strain.
Emergency repairs were required when a forehand from Krejcikova found its way through a hole in the net.
The second seed was serving to stay in the second set when she appeared to get lucky when her shot ruffled the net and dropped over onto Burrage’s side.
The eagle-eyed Burrage looked mystified at how the ball had gone over and walked to the net to discover that a hole big enough for a ball to pass through had opened up.
In a sporting move, Krejcikova awarded the point to Burrage, who went on to level the match before ground staff arrived armed with thread, cable ties and scissors to carry out running repairs.
After a short delay, the deciding set began.
“Another tough match,” Krejcikova, who also has a French Open singles crown to her name, said on court.
“Brits know how to play on grass and it’s hard to play against them, but happy I’m through.
“I was going through a difficult moment at the beginning of this year, but I’m happy I’m here and can keep finding the level that I know I can reach.”
In the men’s draw, lucky loser Billy Harris continued to take advantage of his reprieve, winning 6-3 6-4 against Mattia Bellucci, while Dan Evans sealed his second top-20 win in two weeks as he put on a grass-court clinic to shock world No 13 Tommy Paul 6-4 3-6 6-3 and advance to the quarter-finals.
British duo move step closer to Wimbledon main draw
Oliver Tarvet is one win away from making his Wimbledon debut
Oliver Tarvet and Hamish Stewart are both one win away from making Wimbledon debuts after reaching the final round of qualifying.
Scot Stewart, 25, has already won four matches having come through the wild card qualifying play-off for lower-ranked British players to earn a spot at Roehampton.
He beat Liam Broady there and then profited from a slip that forced Valentin Vacherot to pull out when one game away from victory in their first-round qualifying match.
Stewart’s adventurous route continued on Wednesday when he saved two match points before beating France’s Luca van Assche 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 7-6 (11-9) to make it through to round three.
Joining the world No 550, who will face Switzerland’s Leandro Riedi on Thursday, in the final round is 21-year-old Tarvet.
Tarvet is ranked even lower at 719 but is currently studying at the University of San Diego in the United States, where he has achieved impressive results on the college tennis circuit.
And he is yet to drop a set, following up his victory over 14th seed Terence Atmane in round one with a 6-3 6-2 win against Canadian Alexis Galarneau.
He will need to defeat 29th seed Alexander Blockx of Belgium if he is to progress to the main draw.
There was defeat, though, for Ryan Peniston, who lost out 3-6 6-4 6-4 to talented young Spaniard Martin Landaluce.
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