Belinda Bencic was close to pulling off a big comeback win against world No. 26 Liudmila Samsonova but it all fell apart late in the match after she collapsed and lost her serve twice in the deciding moments of her Adelaide International round-of-16 match.
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On Wednesday, the former world No. 4 was aiming to clinch her biggest win since launching her post-pregnancy return.
Sadly for the current world No. 421, she didn't manage to do so after Samsonova edged her out 7-6 (3) 4-6 6-4.
Throughout the match, neither played had difficulty creating break points - each had 14 and realized four - but the difference was that two of the Russian's four breaks came in the third set.
Over the years, the world No. 26 has never been an easy opponent for Bencic as she now owns a 5-1 head-to-head record against the 27-year-old.
In her next match, Samsonova will play against No. 2 seed Emma Navarro.
Bencic was up by a break late in the third set before suffering back-to-back breaks
After blowing an early 3-0 lead and two set points in the 12th game, the Swiss paid the price after the Russian won five consecutive points in the first-set tie-break to open a 5-2 lead before realizing her first set point.
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It didn't get any better for the former world No. 4 after she lost her serve early in the second set.
But down by a set and a break, Bencic finally started playing better and she responded with breaks in the seventh and ninth games to win five games in a row - go from 1-4 to 6-4 - and to force a third set.
Then in the third set, the world No. 421 earned the first break of the set in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead.
Just when it seemed that Bencic would complete a big comeback, she collapsed - lost her serve in the eighth and 10th games - and Samsonova won the match.
