Katie Boulter and Emma Raducanu were denied another all-British semi-final showdown before Wimbledon following comprehensive defeats at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
The British No 1 Boulter, who registered a last-four win over Raducanu 11 days ago en route to retaining the Nottingham Open title, slipped to a 6-1, 7-6 (0) loss against the French Open finalist Jasmine Paolini.
Former US Open champion Raducanu was then comfortably dispatched 6-2, 6-2 by Daria Kasatkina, who lost last year’s Eastbourne final to Madison Keys.
Harriet Dart completed a hat-trick of British quarter-final exits in the women’s draw on Thursday, suffering a 6-2, 6-1 loss to Leylah Fernandez.
Paolini, the world No 7, dominated the tactical battle against Boulter and adapted far better to blustery conditions at Devonshire Park. The tenacious 28-year-old Italian will face sixth seed Kasatkina in the last four todayon Friday, while Canadian Fernandez – runner-up to Raducanu at Flushing Meadows in 2021 – will take on reigning champion Keys.
Boulter endured persistent problems with her ball toss and produced a series of costly and, at times, embarrassing errors amid a challenging breeze. Having already been distracted by a seagull and a piece of billowing litter, she finished the fourth and sixth games with double faults – the second of which occurred when the ball hit the frame of her racket and flew beyond the baseline.
Boulter made a similar mistake as she was broken five games into the second set but, having fallen 4-2 down, responded by winning three games on the spin to briefly raise the prospect of forcing a decider.
Yet Paolini, who earlier this month lost the Roland Garros final to Iga Swiatek, was a cut above and reasserted her authority to outclass her opponent in the tie-break and continue her remarkable season.
Raducanu then failed to get to grips with Kasatkina in another relatively one-sided Centre Court contest. However, the 21-year-old, who missed the entire grass-court season last year following wrist and ankle surgery, heads to the All England Club buoyed by impressive wins over Sloane Stephens and the world No 5, Jessica Pegula.
Raducanu showed occasional glimpses of her class, catching the eye with a superb backhand sliced winner as she saved four set points in the opener.
Yet she blew a 40-0 lead on serve early in the second set and was broken six times overall as her powerful Russian opponent dominated the majority of the rallies to secure progression.
Meanwhile, wildcard Billy Harris is one step away from becoming the first Briton to reach the men’s singles final after battling from a set down to upset Italian world number 49 Flavio Cobolli.
The 29-year-old, a quarter-finalist at Queen’s last week, won 6-7 (3) 7-6 (4) 6-2, having beaten compatriots Jacob Fearnley and Charles Broom in the previous rounds.
Nottingham-born Harris, ranked 139 in the world, will meet Australian qualifier Max Purcell – a 6-3 7-6 (4) victor against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic – in the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, top seed Alfie Hewett came out on top against long-time doubles partner Gordon Reid in the quarter-final of the men’s wheelchair singles, winning 6-2 6-1.
In qualifying for Wimbledon, teenager Hannah Klugman fell short of reaching the main draw but Sonay Kartal had a special reason to celebrate her progress having overcome serious health problems. Kartal, who was Emma Raducanu’s main rival as a junior, has previously been held back by injuries during her career and feared she may be sidelined for the whole year. Kartal battled through the first two rounds but thumped Russian Erika Andreeva – the older sister of teenage sensation Mirra – 6-3 6-1 on Thursday.
Fifteen-year-old Klugman was looking to become the youngest Wimbledon qualifier since Coco Gauff but she was overpowered in a 6-3 6-3 loss to American Alycia Parks, who has shot up to 40 in the rankings after winning a title on grass in Italy last week. The teenager was not downhearted, though, saying: “I’m definitely proud of myself this week. If you’d told me at the start of the week I’d make last round qualies, I’d definitely take that. She’s 40 in the world so to see the level was good.”
Klugman will now focus on the junior competition, where she will be one of the favourites as the world number six. Kartal’s success means Britain will have 19 singles players in the main draws on Friday, the most at Wimbledon this century.
Another name seemingly now certain to join them is seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, who practised on Centre Court with Jannik Sinner on Thursday.