Katie Boulter crashes out of Wuhan Open in first round with defeat to qualifier

Katie Boulter bowed out in the first round of the Wuhan Open with a disappointing defeat to qualifier Lesia Tsurenko.

Boulter was error-strewn throughout against Ukrainian Tsurenko, ranked 62 places lower at 96 in the world, and fell to a 6-2 7-5 loss.

The British number one failed to hold serve in the opening set and, although she improved in the second, she never looked comfortable and a break in the 11th game proved her undoing.

Boulter's form has tailed off over the second half of the season, with the 28-year-old winning more than one match in a week only once since Wimbledon.