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British number one Katie Boulter was knocked out of the Ningbo Open in straight sets by Beatriz Haddad Maia.<\/b><\/p>\n
World number 10 Haddad Maia completed a 7-6 (7-2) 7-5 victory to reach the quarter-finals, where she will play Spain’s Paula Badosa.<\/p>\n
The sixth seed dominated a first set tie-break following an even start and then broke Boulter in the 11th game of set two before holding serve to win the match.<\/p>\n
It is a first loss to Brazil’s Haddad Maia in four meetings for the 28-year-old Briton, who beat Sara Errani in her opening match after exiting the Wuhan Open in the first round last week.<\/p>\n
Boulter, who has three career singles titles, is ranked 35th in the world, having achieved a career-high ranking of 27 in March.<\/p>\n
Later on Thursday, fellow Briton Dan Evans was denied a superb win as US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe fought back from behind at the Almaty Open.<\/p>\n
Evans, who has dropped to 180th in the world, lost 6-7 (10-12) 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to 15th-ranked Tiafoe in Kazakhstan.<\/p>\n
Bidding for his first victory against a top-20 opponent for over a year, qualifier Evans showed glimpses of his quality shot-making, and served tidily, before a slow start to the decider proved costly.<\/p>\n
The 34-year-old Englishman has endured a tough season in which he has lacked form and fitness.<\/p>\n
But his persistence and commitment to try and play his way back into form has been rewarded this week at the ATP 250 event.<\/p>\n
Evans came through qualifying to reach the second round and the confidence gained from three straight wins helped him cause serious problems for American Tiafoe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n