Katie Boulter and Cameron Norrie beaten after service struggles in Indian Wells
Boulter had spent more than a month on the sidelines with a foot problem.
Katie Boulter and Cameron Norrie both suffered third-round exits at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
Boulter claimed her first main-draw win in the Californian desert in her opening match after receiving a first-round bye but could not take her chance in the second set against seventh seed Elena Rybakina.
The British number one won only two games in her only previous meeting with Rybakina at Wimbledon two years ago and was staring at an even more one-sided defeat when she failed to win a game in the opening set.
But she matched the Kazakh thereafter and had a chance to serve out the second set before falling to a 6-0 7-5 defeat.
Boulter had spent more than a month on the sidelines with a foot problem, and she was completely outplayed in the first set before finally getting on the board in the eighth game of the contest.
That was the foothold Boulter needed and a double fault from Rybakina gave the 25th seed a break to lead 4-3, which she consolidated to move within touching distance of a deciding set.
However, she could not serve it out at 5-4 and then double-faulted when Rybakina created a first match point at 6-5.
Norrie also double-faulted on match point, with his serve letting him down in a 6-3 7-5 loss to 10th seed Tommy Paul.
Norrie only held serve once in the opening set and, although he improved in the second, three double faults in the final game proved his undoing.
Elsewhere, second seed Iga Swiatek claimed her latest one-sided victory, beating Dayana Yastremska 6-0 6-2, while Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his return to form with a 6-3 6-3 success against Matteo Berrettini.
