Katie Poulter: British number three beats Eva Lees at the Pan Pacific Open

British third seed Katie Boulter’s poor form continued with a straight sets loss to world number 44 Eva Liss in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Boulter (29 years old) lost 6-2 and 6-1 in just an hour and 14 minutes to the 23-year-old German player.

After going through two qualifying rounds, she was the only British player in the main draw after Emma Raducano withdrew, ending her season early due to illness.

The British player was only able to win 50% of the points on her first serve and was broken five times by Liz.

This latest defeat caps a disappointing run of form, which has left the former world number 29 unable to progress beyond the second round of the tournament since the Nottingham Open in June.

This also comes five days after the British player lost in straight sets in the second round of the Japan Open to world number 51 Sorana Cirstea.

Elsewhere, Fran Jones, ranked fourth in Britain, lost in straight sets to China’s Wang Xiu in the first round of the Guangzhou Open.

Jones, seeded seventh, was broken four times in the match, losing 6-4, 6-4 to the world number 163.