Cameron Norrie's hopes of glory in the Zhuhai Championships came to an end in a two-set defeat to Russia's Aslan Karatsev in Saturday's quarter-final.
The British number one fell short in a pair of tie-breakers to bow out 6-7[5] 6-7[5] with two hours and 21 minutes on the clock, which saw Karatsev avenge defeats to Norrie at Queen's in 2021 and during last year's Stockholm Open.
Norrie - seeded second in China - breezed past Australian qualifier Marc Polmans in the second round to set up a tie with Karatsev, who denied the 28-year-old an all-British quarter-final with Andy Murray.
Karatsev had come from a set down to defeat both Murray and his first-round opponent Matteo Arnaldi, but the Russian would pile the pressure on Norrie from the start, missing three break points before coming up trumps in the tie-breaker.
A double fault from the Russian saw Norrie break for a 2-1 lead in the second set, but while the Briton was serving for the match, a couple of unforced errors gifted Karatsev a timely break back for 5-5.
A 119mph ace saw Norrie take a 2-0 lead in the second tiebreaker, but the former Wimbledon semi-finalist could not cling onto his advantage as Karatsev set up a semi-final with Japanese eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka.
Ben Knapton
