A dogged Emma Raducanu was left to rue a third-set collapse as she suffered a second-round ASB Classic exit at the hands of Ukrainian second seed Elina Svitolina.
The former British number one - playing just her second match in eight months - went toe-to-toe with Svitolina for over two hours before running out of steam in a 7-6[5] 6-7[3] 1-6 defeat.
Raducanu earned herself a headline encounter with Svitolina owing to her first-round beating of Elena-Gabriela Ruse on her comeback appearance, having been out since April with wrist and ankle injuries, and she exploded out of the blocks against Svitolina too.
The 21-year-old displayed clean hitting and exemplary court coverage to storm into a 5-1 lead with a double break, but Svitolina refused to throw in the towel and miraculously clawed her way back to 5-5 in the opening set.
Raducanu did not let that brief collapse affect her as she came good in the tie-breaker to establish a 1-0 advantage, and the pair traded three breaks at the start of the second set before Svitolina held for a 3-1 lead.
The Ukrainian's joy was short-lived as Raducanu got back on serve at 3-3, although she crucially wasted another two chances to break Svitolina in the seventh game and lost five points on the trot in the tie-breaker, which marked the beginning of her capitulation.
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In her first service game of a decisive third set, the Briton dug deep to save three break points, but she was eventually outgunned by Svitolina, who mercilessly capitalised on her opponent's fatigue to win five games on the trot.
Raducanu would at least avoid going out on a bagel and saved two match points with Svitolina serving for a place in the quarter-finals - bringing the seventh game to deuce with a stunning passing backhand - but Svitolina responded in kind with a terrific forehand to close out the contest on her third match point.
"It was really great match from both us. Emma played a great match as well, it was really difficult physically. I'm really happy the way I handled the pressure moments," Svitolina said on the court.
Svitolina - who managed a staggering 52 winners and 11 aces in the second-round encounter - will now take on Czech fifth seed Marie Bouzkova for a spot in the semi-finals, where either Diane Parry or Wang Xiyu will await the victor.
Meanwhile, Raducanu will now gear up to enter the main draw of the upcoming Australian Open, having been promoted from qualifying thanks to a number of withdrawals.
Elsewhere in Auckland, top seed Coco Gauff strolled into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-0 victory over Brenda Fruhvirtova, recording a bagel for the 18th time in her career on the WTA Tour.
Ben Knapton
