British number one Emma Raducanu saw her run at the Stuttgart Open come to an end with a 4-6 4-6 defeat to world number one Iga Swiatek in Friday's quarter-final.
The 19-year-old fought admirably against her Polish counterpart and battled her way through early breaks and a medical timeout for an apparent lower back issue early on in the second set.
However, the quality and ruthlessness of Swiatek shone through during the last-eight meeting, with the world number one breaking straight away in the first game before a spate of holds.
A frustrated Raducanu did not hide her emotions as Swiatek confidently served for the first set, and the 20-year-old made lightning strike twice with a break of serve in game one of the second set.
Raducanu took advantage of some Swiatek errors to earn her first break straight after before the Pole restored her lead, with Raducanu then taking a medical timeout before fighting on.
A third ace from Raducanu helped her stay in the match at 4-5 in the second set, but she then failed to take two opportunities to break Swiatek in the next game, and the sunshine double winner clinched the contest on her second match point.
Swiatek now prepares to meet Russian Ludmilla Samsonova in the semi-finals, with Aryna Sabalenka and Paula Badosa locking horns in the other clash in the final four.
Ben Knapton
