Tuesday 1 September 2015 21:53, UK
Laura Robson has followed Heather Watson in being eliminated from the US Open first round - although Johanna Konta is through.
With British No 1 Watson already out, Robson relinquished a 4-0 lead in the deciding set to lose 6-3 3-6 5-7 to Russia's Alena Vesnina on Tuesday.
Konta now has Britain's hopes on her shoulders after she convincingly beat America's Louisa Chirico 6-3 6-0 on Court 11 before Robson's match.
Still on the comeback trail from a wrist injury that saw her world ranking plummet to No 618, Robson was returning to the Grand Slam where she made her name in 2012 with a shock win over Kim Clijsters.
And despite breaking twice to build a seemingly insurmountable lead, she immediately conceded four games in a row to eventually drop the decisive set.
Robson saved four break points as she shook off the rust in her second service game but eventually secured the first break to go 4-2 up. Big, powerful forehand strikes got her over the line.
Vesnina returned aggressively, taking a break from Robson before the Brit has refocused after the break. At 3-0 down, Robson was handed a time violation leading to a row with the umpire mid-way through dropping the set.
Robson held to love in the decider, and then broke immediately to establish the pace. When a second break took her to 4-0 it all seemed over but a sloppy double-fault gave one break back to the Russian who took advantage. The world No 108 won four on the trot before breaking to love to go 6-5 up and serving Robson out of the tournament.
Beforehand, British No 2 Konta crushed 19-year-old Louisa Chirico, a wildcard from nearby New Jersey, 6-3 6-0 in just one hour on Court 11 to kick off a day where five British players will be in action, including Andy Murray from midnight on Sky Sports 1 HD.
Konta had previously won a main draw tie at Flushing Meadows in 2012 but, for the first time since then, has advanced beyond the opening hurdle.
The Briton will now face either ninth seed Garbine Muguruza, who reached the Wimbledon final seven weeks ago, or Germany's Carina Witthoeft in the next round.
Muguruza, ranked ninth in the world, would certainly provide a stern test but Konta is in the form of her life, having extended a winning streak which now stands at 14 matches.
The 24-year-old has always been a sound hitter from the baseline but she has previously struggled for both the power and mental toughness to succeed in the higher echelons of the game.
This, however, was an accomplished display on Court 11 and will give Konta confidence she can do more than just qualify for the main draws at Grand Slams.
The opening set looked ominous when, poised at a break each, Chirico's shot bounced twice off the top of the net before dropping feebly over to favour the American. Konta dug in, forced an error and took the game anyway for her second break point to go 4-2 up.
She had previously broken when Chirico, in her first service game, double-faulted twice to hand over the advantage without a fight. Konta erred immediately, and a perfect lob couldn't help her hold serve.
As the set progressed it was the Australian-born Brit who was clearly striking the ball more smoothly although she almost made a mess of wrapping up the sixth game.
On serve, she fell to a 0-40 deficit as Chirico displayed her best shot of the match, a brilliant cross-court backhand, but Konta gamely fought back to serve herself into the lead.
Buoyed by her advantage, Konta was more assertive in the second set, dictating the rallies and leaving a beleaguered Chirico powerless to respond.
Konta saved four break points to hold on for 2-0 and then her opponent Chirico gave up her serve twice more leading to a second-set bagel and ensured she became the first British player in New York to make round two.
Tuesday's other results:
9-Garbine Muguruza Blanco (Spain) beat Carina Witthoeft (Germany) 6-2 6-4.
Mona Barthel (Germany) beat Tsvetana Pironkova (Bulgaria) 5-7 7-6(4) 6-1.
20-Victoria Azarenka (Belarus) beat Lucie Hradecka (Czech Republic) 6-1 6-2.
Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine) beat Yulia Putintseva (Kazakhstan) 6-0 6-3.
Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia) beat Annika Beck (Germany) 6-4 1-6 6-4.
Camila Giorgi (Italy) beat Johanna Larsson (Sweden) 6-3 6-3.
4-Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) beat Jamie Loeb (U.S.) 6-2 6-0.
Karin Knapp (Italy) beat Ajla Tomljanovic (Croatia) 6-7(1) 6-2 6-4.
Olga Govortsova (Belarus) beat 28-Irina Begu (Romania) 6-1 0-6 7-6(3).
Wang Qiang (China) beat Maria Sakkari (Greece) 7-5 6-2.
Varvara Lepchenko (U.S.) beat Kirsten Flipkens (Belgium) 6-1 6-1.
Barbora Strycova (Czech Republic) beat 14-Timea Bacsinszky (Switzerland) 7-5 6-0.
11-Angelique Kerber (Germany) beat Alexandra Dulgheru (Romania) 6-3 6-1.
Lesia Tsurenko (Ukraine) beat 6-Lucie Safarova (Czech Republic) 6-4 6-1.
2-Simona Halep (Romania) beat Marina Erakovic (New Zealand) 6-2 3-0 (Erakovic retired).
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