Heather Watson's preparations for the upcoming US Open took a blow as the British No.1 suffered an early exit from the Citi Open.
The Washington tournament is considered a tune-up event for the year's final grand slam, which begins at Flushing Meadows on August 31.
Watson lasted little over an hour on court as she crashed to a 6-3 6-0 first-round defeat to wildcard Louisa Chirico.
The Briton was broken by her American opponent in the opening game of the match, but immediately responded to level the scores. Chirico, though, secured further breaks in the fifth and ninth games to claim the opening set.
World No.128 Chirico then wasted no time in wrapping up victory as she cruised through the second set without dropping a game.
Watson wasn't the only British star to suffer the taste of early exit defeat this week. Aljaz Bedene crashed out of the Generali Open after a shock loss to wildcard entry Dennis Novak in Austria.
After Bedene's notable outing at the Hamburg Open last week, where he reached the quarterfinals, the British No.2 didn't manage continue his respectable form this time round and eventually lost 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-1.
This loss denied Bedene a chance of redemption as Fabio Fognini - his conqueror from the previous tournament - awaited him in the further stages, and 265-ranked Novak will instead take on the Italian.