Rinky Hijikata's run at the Winston-Salem Open has come to an end with a straight-sets loss to the experienced David Goffin.
The Australian went down 6-1 6-3 in just over an hour on Thursday as he tried to make the semi-finals.
The No.16 seed had staged an impressive comeback in the round of 16 to defeat Croatian Borna Coric, who had toppled Argentinian top-seed Sebastian Baez in the previous round.
But there was no similar rebound against the Belgian, who recorded six aces in a dominant performance.
Goffin was also dominant at the net, winning 88 per cent of points while also hitting 23 winners to Hijikata's six.
Hijikata failed to convert the one-break opportunity he had while Goffin broke the 23-year-old Sydneysider four times.
Goffin will now meet 10th seeded Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who eliminated 15th-seed Pavel Kotov 6-3 7-5.
