Johanna Konta has suffered a last-16 defeat to Venus Williams at the Miami Open, a result which will see the British number one drop outside of the world's top 20.
Twelve months ago, Konta won the tournament in Florida but a poor start to 2018 left the 26-year-old facing the prospect of a significant ranking fall should she fail to reach the latter stages of this year's tournament.
Konta appeared on course for victory when edging the first set against Williams, but the big-hitting American stormed back to register a 5-7 6-1 6-2 triumph.
As it stands, Konta will be ranked at 22nd in the WTA standings when the list is updated on Monday, with the British representative now heading into the clay-court swing until the end of May.
However, Konta has just 180 points to defend, giving the former top-10 player an opportunity to make inroads back up the rankings.
Written by
Darren Plant
Darren Plant
