Cameron Norrie's hopes of reaching a third successive Los Cabos Open final were dashed in a three-set defeat to the USA's Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round.
In his first ATP Tour match since a second-round Wimbledon exit to Christopher Eubanks, Norrie was undone by a stellar Kovacevic comeback in a 7-5 6-7[7] 4-6 defeat.
Mexican soil has traditionally been kind to Norrie during his career, as the British number one won his first tour-level title at the 2021 Los Cabos Open before losing to Daniil Medvedev in last year's final.
The world number 13 was on course to continue his love affair with Los Cabos as he broke Kovacevic in the 11th game before taking the first set with a love hold, but the big-serving American came through a nail-biting tie-breaker to level the match.
As the third set progressed, the momentum was with Kovacevic - who fired 15 aces in total over the course of the match - and the world number 129 deservedly broke in the ninth game for a 5-4 lead.
Norrie brought up one chance to break Kovacevic while he was serving for the match, but the Briton wasted that crucial opportunity as Kovacevic set up a third-round tie with German seventh seed Dominik Koepfer.
However, Murray's compatriots Andy Murray and Dan Evans fared better in Washington, advancing to the third round of the Citi Open with wins over Brandon Nakashima and Gregoire Barrere respectively.
Ben Knapton
