Emma Raducanu's quarterfinal defeat to Zheng Qinwen at the Queen's Club Championship means there are no Brits left at the tournament going into the final weekend.
The 22-year-old became British No. 1 by booking a place in the quarterfinals, but she was no match for Olympic champion Zheng, who won 6-2, 6-4 on Friday.
In an entertaining battle at the Andy Murray Arena, Zheng showed she could be a worthy contender heading into Wimbledon as she marched into her first semifinal on grass when she converted her fourth match point.
Zheng has won singles titles on clay and hardcourt but is still adapting to grass. She showed a marked improvement in her match with Raducanu after she changed her shoes midway through a game when her opponent was serving.
"I want to apologize for my shoes. I didn't want to fall two times, but I just don't know how to run on grass," Zheng said sheepishly. "I still don't know when I have to change the grass shoes. I think right now is the time, so it's the new shoes. I feel much better to run.
"It was a really difficult match for me, especially [because] she has got more experience than me on the grass court. I'm just really happy to get into the semi-final for the first time on grass."
Zheng and Raducanu were neck-and-neck in the opening set until the world No. 5 finally broke serve to go up 4-2. The home crowd largely favored Raducanu, but Zheng did not waver and she claimed the opening set despite a fall on set point.
Raducanu took a medical timeout for a back issue before the second set and that swung the momentum the Briton's way as she secured a double break to go 3-0 up.
But Zheng quickly recovered and leveled the set, before going 5-4 up with an overhead smash that kissed the line.
Serving to stay in the match, Raducanu produced a double fault to give Zheng three match points which she saved before the top seed prevailed.
"I've played five matches in a pretty short amount of time. I'm probably feeling that, so I need to let the back rest and see how it goes from there," Raducanu, who also competed in the doubles alongside Katie Boulter, told the BBC. "I'm not overly concerned that (the back issue) is something serious, but I know it's something that's very annoying and needs proper and careful management."
Raducanu is next scheduled to compete at the German Open in Berlin as she continues her preparations for Wimbledon.
"I've improved a lot and done a lot of good work behind the scenes, but there's a lot to go to get to the next level," she said. "They are stronger than me and have had more time training -- I need to do the same. I need to raise my level."
Information from Reuters was used in this report.