Alex Eala’s recent struggles continued after she was dumped out of the Wuhan Open by world No 201 Han Shi in the first round.
The 21-year-old has found wins hard to come by since her third-round loss to Iva Jovic at the US Open in September.
The left-hander lost her opener at the Singapore Open to Tatiana Prozorova, who at the time was ranked 180th in the world.
Despite being the heavy favourite for the gold medal at the Asian Games, Eala then lost in the semi-finals to Wang Xiyu, and now, she has lost again, this time in Wuhan on Monday.
Eala took the first set 6-4 but then the Chinese qualifier bounced back to take the second 3-6. The youngster lost seven games in a row and was powerless to stop Shi taking the decider 6-3.
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As a result of this setback at the WTA 1000 event, the world No 19 picks up just 10 points and $18,300 in prize money. She is on 2,241 points in the live WTA rankings and is 18th in the Race on 2,151 ranking points.
It would appear that Eala is running out of energy as the season winds down. This year, her win-loss record is 40/23.
It seems Eala has not been able to hit the heights she achieved at the Washington Open when she beat Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula on her way to her first WTA Tour title.
It remains to be seen where Eala will play next as the Asian Swing isn’t finished yet.
Full Wuhan Open breakdown:
First round: 10 | $18,300
Second round: 65 | $26,000
Third round: 120 | $49,250
Quarter-final: 215 | $98,500
Semi-final: 390 | $197,000
Finalist: 650 | $385,001
Champion: 1,000 | $665,000
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