Elina Svitolina saw her hopes of delivering an emotional title for Ukraine ended by Camila Osorio in a tough quarter-final loss at the Monterrey Open.
Top seed Svitolina wore the yellow and blue colours of her home country, which has come under attack from Russia’s military in the past fortnight.
However, the former world number three could not capitalise on a fast start, or a big lead in the deciding set, as she slipped to a 1-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) defeat in two hours and 33 minutes.
Svitolina held a 4-1 lead in the third set, but 20-year-old Colombian Osorio recovered the double break to edge out the 2020 champion, sealing the win in a deciding tie-break.
That was the third tight three-set battle of the day, with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia earlier scoring a 4-6 6-4 7-6 (9-7) win over Marie Bouzkova, and Nuria Parrizas Diaz achieving a 6-3 1-6 6-4 victory in an all-Spanish clash with Sara Sorribes Tormo.
Parrizas Dias will face Osorio in Saturday’s semi-finals, while Haddad Maia faces a tussle with US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez, who was a late-night 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 winner against China’s Wang Qiang.