British number two Harriet Dart's comeback against France's Alize Cornet was in vain as she lost to the world number 32 in straight sets in the Jasmin Open second round.
The 26-year-old had cruised past Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the first round but fell to a 3-6 4-6 defeat to Cornet in one hour and 39 minutes in Tunisia, despite giving her opponent a good run for her money.
In the opening exchanges, Dart was distracted by an umbrella crashing over in windy conditions as she netted a forehand to hand Cornet two break points, and the French third seed quickly went 2-0 up.
Dart then saved a break point in the sixth game – aided by the weather, which left Cornet less than impressed – and a brilliant backhand from the Brit allowed her to hold for 2-4 as she began to grow into the match.
Cornet then sent a backhand wide in the seventh game to hand Dart a break-back point, but the world number 96 netted after a lengthy rally, and she then squandered a second opportunity to break with a mishit drop shot at the net.
However, Cornet's long backhand saw Dart finally break at the third attempt to reduce the deficit from 1-4 to 3-4, but despite her resurgence, the 26-year-old netted once more to cede the first set.
Harriet Dart loses a good fight 6-3, 6-4 to Alizé Cornet at the Jasmin Open #BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/ktelgUV1Gx
— LTA (@the_LTA) October 5, 2022
Dart got off to the worst possible start in the second set as she was broken in the first game, and with her second serves leaving a lot to be desired, Cornet got the double break against her increasingly frustrated opponent.
The 32-year-old experienced her fair share of disappointing moments in the match and was forced to save three break points in the fourth game of the second set, but a poorly-hit dropshot from the French player saw Dart finally get on the board at 1-3, and she then held to love to reduce the deficit further.
The Brit's revival did not last long, though, as Cornet won the next three games on the bounce and would attempt to serve for the match, but she failed to do so as a double fault allowed Dart to make things interesting with another break.
Dart would proceed to hold with a powerful backhand, forcing Cornet to try to serve for a place in the quarter-finals again, but the French third seed quickly brought up three match points thanks to just a second ace of the match.
One final mishit forehand from Dart would eventually get the job done for Cornet, who will tackle either Tamara Zidansek or Anastasia Potapova in the last eight.
Dart has been eliminated from the Jasmin Open one day after Emma Raducanu lost in the first round in Ostrava to Daria Kasatkina, while Dan Evans will take on Miomir Kecmanovic in the last-16 of the Japan Open tomorrow morning.
Ben Knapton
