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Dan Evans and Katie Boulter both exited the French Open at the first-round stage on Tuesday to leave Britain without any representatives in the main singles draw.
Evans fell to a straight-set loss against Danish 13th seed Holger Rune.
His 6-4 6-4 6-4 defeat by the 21-year-old Rune ended British interest in the men’s singles draw following defeats for Cameron Norrie, Jack Draper and Andy Murray.
It is only the fourth time this century that no British singles player has reached the second round at Roland Garros (also in 2007, 2013 and 2020).
With Harriet Dart also out of the women’s draw, Boulter was the only Briton remaining by the time her rain-delayed campaign got under way in the evening.
But despite winning the opening set, the British number one slipped to a 4-6 7-5 6-4 defeat to Spain’s Paula Badosa.
Boulter loses battle with friend Badosa
Boulter, 27, had never featured in the main draw in Paris before and faced a potentially tricky challenge in former world number two Badosa, after their meeting was eventually moved to court nine once the rain cleared.
That looked to be the case when the 26-year-old Badosa, who has struggled with injuries over the past 12 months, took a 4-2 lead in the first set.
But French Open debutant Boulter broke back immediately against the former junior champion on the way to winning four successive games to take the opening set.
The world number 26 carried that momentum into the second and was a break up before Badosa fought back and, with Boulter missing chances on her own serve, took the match to a decider.
Badosa revealed the pair are “good friends” before their tie, but that did not stop them getting drawn into a battling encounter that went deep into the Parisian night, finishing just before midnight local time.
Boulter applauded a superb backhand winner from Badosa after a lengthy rally at 4-4 on the Spaniard’s serve and could only admire another passing shot as her opponent moved within one game of the second round.
Boulter double-faulted to hand Badosa two match points and then found the net with a forehand as the Spaniard sealed her progress after two hours and 18 minutes.
“It’s going to be a tough night and I’m sure I will replay that match,” Boulter said.
“There were a lot of points which were super close. She hit a couple of lines and I missed by millimetres on a couple of shots which could have changed the entire whole match.
“I have to go back and focus on the positives. I think I can become a strong clay-court player.”
Evans ‘fed up with umpires’ after defeat
World number 62 Evans, who has won just one match in seven French Open main-draw appearances, was unable to equal his best run in Paris as two-time quarter-finalist Rune claimed an impressive victory.
Evans, the British number three, dug in to save two break points in a gruelling 13-minute third game on Court Suzanne Lenglen, but Rune eventually made his breakthrough for a 5-4 lead before serving out the opening set.
Evans came through another thorough examination at the start of the second set, saving four break points, and launched a positive response by creating his first opportunity on Rune’s serve.
However, it was again Rune who struck first – and the single break again proved enough after he produced a second-serve ace to save a break point when serving for a two-set lead.
The Briton was frustrated after Rune immediately broke back midway through a must-win third set, and the pair exchanged words after Rune disrupted Evans’ service game to dispute a line call with the umpire.
Evans, who was fined after a recent argument with an umpire in Rome, said afterwards: “I’m fed up with the umpires, full stop.
“I feel like I’m on a roll and and I was disrupted, but it’s not Rune’s fault if he’s allowed to have a conversation.
“It was just a chat – and I’m waiting to serve. It’s freezing on the court, the match was flowing great and then it just stopped in the middle and I don’t understand.”
Having levelled the set from 4-2 down, Rune maintained his momentum to make the decisive break before completing victory on serve by taking a fourth successive game.
“That’s not the reason I lost,” added Evans. “That’s just part of the issue, part of the problem, but he [the umpire] will be back in work again tomorrow.”
Evans, who lost in the first round at the Australian Open in January, will return to action alongside Murray in the men’s doubles – the start of which was delayed by persistent rain on Tuesday.