Aljaz Bedene has been edged out by Milos Raonic in the second round of the Istanbul Open.
The British number four has been in excellent form of late but despite winning 23 of his last 25 matches, he could not outlast the world number six.
Bedene did not create a break point throughout the entire contest, but he was able to seal the opener in a tie-break as he threatened the result of his career.
However, Raonic struck twice as he dominated the second in order to force a decider but he was unable to shake off Bedene, who has moved up to 58th in the world rankings.
The match went to a final-set tie-break but after establishing a 4-2 lead at the change of ends, Raonic claimed three of the next four points to run out a 6-7 6-3 7-6 victor in two hours and 36 minutes.
Darren Plant
