Sonay Kartal's run at the Wuhan Open ended in a three-set defeat to Maja Chwalinska in the final. The Briton took the first set but Chwalinska, the 16th seed and this year's French Open runner-up, fought back to win 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in two hours and 43 minutes.
Kartal, 24, had beaten world No 11 Iva Jovic and six-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek to reach her first WTA 1000 final. She had never previously gone beyond the quarter-finals at this level, and did so in only her third tournament since a six-month injury layoff following a stress fracture in her back.
Having been ranked 170th in the world after her layoff, Kartal was the lowest-ranked WTA 1000 finalist since the format was introduced 17 years ago, and only the second British woman ever to make a final at this level after Johanna Konta.
Kartal said: "She's a very tricky player, she's very different to how a lot of the girls play on the tour. It was a very physical battle. I had my chances and I think that's maybe where the rust of six months comes in. But overall I'm very happy with my performance. Obviously not the result I wanted, and it's going to sting for a while, but for me the positives of this week outweigh that result. I'm leaving here head held high and in a good spot overall."
She will climb to 50th in the world when the rankings are updated on Monday and replace Katie Boulter as the British No 1.