Emma Raducanu fell short of a dream title on home soil after she was defeated 6-0, 7-6 (6) by Croatian lucky loser Donna Vekic at the HSBC Championships in London.
The British No. 1 was swiftly beaten in the first set but saved three championship points in the second on the way to a tiebreak, where she saved another and came agonisingly close to taking it to a deciding set.
Rain earlier in the tournament resulted in Raducanu having to power through a two-match day on Saturday, beating Kamilla Rakhimova then American Iva Jovic to reach the first grass-court and third tour-level final of her career.
It meant the Briton had spent two hours and 19 minutes more on court the previous day than her opponent -- who played just one match, a swift one-hour, six-minute victory over British No. 3 Katie Boulter.
Raducanu was looking for her first trophy since her stunning win as a qualifier at the 2021 US Open, and brought up two set points in the 10th game.
The 23-year-old finished runner-up to Sorana Cirstea in Cluj-Napoca, her second final, in February, but missed two and a half months of the season with post-viral illness and had just one win under her belt since March.
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Raducanu slipped in the first of those matches and danced around just how much she was feeling the effects after booking her place in the final, saying she and her team would do "everything they possibly can" ahead of the final and insisting "adrenaline and support" had spurred her on.
Raducanu emerged on court wearing a patch on her left thigh, the same location where she sported one in her semifinal victory, and the support, at least, was in an abundance of supply from the home crowd from the start.
