A gallant fightback proved in vain for Casey Dellacqua as she suffered a second-round loss to Czech 23rd seed Lucie Safarova at the French Open.
The Australian world No.48 was just two points from a heavy defeat at 6-1 5-2 and 30-0 love down, only to mount a spirited comeback and send the game into a deciding third set.
However Safarova recovered to end Dellacqua’s tournament with a 6-1 5-7 6-3 win in just under two hours on Thursday.
Dellacqua has worked her way back into the world’s top 50 after a torrid time with injuries and she looked impressive in the opening round against Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino.
However the 29-year-old started slowly against Safarova, struggling badly on serve and making 12 unforced errors to surrender the first set in just 26 minutes.
Safarova looked to be running away with an easy win but Dellacqua took her chances and reeled off winner after winner to get back into the match.
She broke Safarova’s serve to take the second set but the Czech steadied and lead 4-2 in the third.
Dellacqua threatened another fightback but Safarova held her nerve to book a third-round date with either Serb Ana Ivanovic or Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
The defeat leaves 19th seed Samantha Stosur as the only Australian woman left in the singles at Roland Garros.
She faces ninth seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova in the third round on Friday.
Dellacqua will now turn her attention to the women’s doubles, where she and compatriot Ashleigh Barty are seeded seventh.
They face Slovenian Polona Hercog and Argentine Paula Ormaechea later on Thursday.
Barty and Dellacqua reached the women’s doubles finals at both Wimbledon and the US Open last year and the duo claimed a title on clay in Strasbourg last week.