A courageous effort from Emma Raducanu was in vain as the former British number one lost to world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals of the Stuttgart Open.
After pushing Swiatek all the way in the opening set, Raducanu's powers waned in the tie-breaker, and the Pole enjoyed a stress-free second set in a 7-6[2] 6-3 triumph in just over two hours.
Carrying on her impressive form from Great Britain's Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers success against France, Raducanu had seen off Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova to set up a rematch with Swiatek.
The pair had previously clashed at the 2022 Stuttgart Open and 2023 Indian Wells - both of which were won by Swiatek - but the 22-year-old immediately came under siege from a fired-up Raducanu.
Finding the mark with some powerful returns, Raducanu broke Swiatek's serve at the first time of asking, but after a mammoth second game in which the Briton saved two match points, she could ultimately not prevent the world number one from responding straight away.
Raducanu did not allow Swiatek's swift reply to affect her, continuing to pile the pressure on the world number one up until the tie-breaker, where the Pole's powers truly came to the fore.
Iga Swiatek 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐒 Emma Raducanu in straight sets! 🇵🇱 ✨
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) April 19, 2024
What a battle & the world number one moves into the final four in Stuttgart! 👏 pic.twitter.com/cKiOoLbYvM
Raducanu survives worrying fall in second set
Swiatek clinched the first four points and served out the set on a long Raducanu forehand, and from that point on, the 22-year-old was firmly in the ascendancy against the 2021 US Open winner.
Raducanu lost serve to love in the first game of the second set and also took a tumble on the clay not long after, although she emerged unscathed from that initially alarming fall.
Swiatek's attacks were unrelenting, though, and Raducanu managed to beat away another five break points, but her defences were finally broken while serving to stay in the contest.
Swiatek - who did not face a single break point in the entirety of the second set - brought up two match points on the Raducanu serve but needed just the one to finish the job, as the world number 303 again overcooked a forehand at a crucial point.
Now boasting 11 successive straight-sets wins against former major winners - just the second player to achieve the feat in the 21st century after Serena Williams - Swiatek faces fourth seed Elena Rybakina in Saturday's intriguing semi-final.
Raducanu is one of three Britons to suffer quarter-final eliminations on Friday, as Jack Draper and Cameron Norrie also fell at the same stage at the BMW Open and Barcelona Open respectively.
Ben Knapton
