Katie Boulter failed to take advantage of a stunning start as she lost 0-6 6-3 6-3 to top seed Jasmine Paolini in the Merida Open quarter-finals.
The British No 3 stunned the world number seven in the opening set but, despite remaining competitive throughout, made too many errors on serve to force an upset in Mexico.
Boulter, 29, took the first set to love in just 28 minutes as Paolini won only three points on serve and failed to hit a winner until already trailing 40-0 at 5-0.
Former French Open and Wimbledon finalist Paolini held for the first time in the match at the start of the second set, and the tide started to turn as Boulter failing to convert break points in the third game was followed by Paolini breaking to go 3-1 up.
Boulter broke straight back to love but the next three games also went against serve until Paolini finally held to take the second set and level the contest.
Paolini raced into a 2-0 lead in the decider and, although Boulter broke back and held serve to lead 3-2, the Italian grew in confidence to reel off four games in a row to progress to the last four.
Paolini said in her courtside interview on Sky Sports: “It was a really tough one – Katie, the first set she was smashing every ball and hitting a winner everywhere.
“I was telling myself to play more deep in the court and hit the ball harder because I had to raise the level to try and win the match and in the end it worked out.
“I was trying to be calm, to think what I had to do. I think when you’re nervous you can’t find the solutions.”
