In an encounter which lasted two-and-a-quarter hours, Kontaveit, ranked 29th in the world, rescued one match point in the decisive set, taking things to 5.4 after breaking her opponent's serve. However, Jabeur, ranked 22nd in the world, returned the favor in the very next game, then held her own serve to take the set 7:5, and with it, the whole match.

Jabeur won 120 of the points played to Kontaveit's 107, while the Tunisian served up six aces and committed three double faults, to Kontaveit's one ace and two double faults.

Kontaveit is still in the doubles tournament in Cincinnati, a warm-up competition ahead of the U.S. Open later this month, with her partner, Darja Kasatkina (Russia).

Last year, Kontaveit got to the quarter finals in Cincinnati, losing to current world number two Naomi Osaka.

After parting ways with Ain Suurthal as coach, in June, Kontaveit recently started working with the Russian trainer Dmitry Tursunov, on a trial basis through to the end of the U.S. Open.

Tursunov, 38, has coached Belarusian player and world number threeAryna Sabalenka, and was a top player himself, reaching round four at Wimbledon in 2005 and 2006.

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