British No 1 Emma Raducanu crashed out in the third round of the China Open after suffering an agonising 6-3 6-7 (9-11) 0-6 loss to American Jessica Pegula.

Pegula saved three match points in the second-set tie-break as she dug deep to complete a stunning comeback, racing through the deciding set to book her place in the last 16.

Raducanu made a strong start to the match, winning the first set and leading that crucial tie-break 5-2, but she then failed to take her chances and Pegula capitalised.

Having received a bye through the opening round, Raducanu began the tournament with Saturday’s straight-sets win over Cristina Bucsa.

This promised to be a far tougher assignment but the 22-year-old Briton seized the initiative with an immediate break of serve and looked assured for long periods.

Amid some ferocious hitting, Raducanu blasted a backhand winner to bring up set point before completing the job in style with a fine forehand from inside the baseline.

Since beating Emma Navarro in the Miami Open in March, Raducanu had lost eight matches in a row against top-10 players.

Fifth seed Pegula offered greater resistance in a tighter second set but was forced to battle back from the brink of defeat to force a decider.

World No 32 Raducanu, watched by her Chinese mother, appeared to have played two of her three match points perfectly but they – and ultimately the tense tie-break – somehow went the way of her opponent.

Momentum quickly shifted in favour of 31-year-old American Pegula as Raducanu’s display drastically dropped off.

The 2024 US Open runner-up cruised through the final set and will face 23rd seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the next round after securing progression in two hours and 21 minutes.

“That was a crazy match,” Pegula said after her victory.

“It was a lot of fun. The tie-break was intense, but I got myself back in and kept the pressure on. When she [Raducanu] hit the double fault, I knew I was still playing some good tennis and it was right there. I got a little lucky with my two backhand winners.

“Other than that I tried to keep fighting for as long as I could. The crowd was awesome, this court has been good to me and I’m excited to play here. I’m happy I got through tonight and I’ll try to rest and recover.”

British interest in the tournament now rests on the shoulders of Sonay Kartal.

The 23-year-old, ranked 81st in the world, triumphed 6-3 6-2 against Australian Maya Joint to set up a last-16 meeting with world No 5 Mirra Andreeva.