Tesni Evans saw her run at the Black Ball Open in Cairo ended at the quarter-finals.
The 28-year-old took a see-saw first game against No 4 seed Hania El Hammamy 12-10 having saved a game point.
But the Egyptian claimed the next three games 11-7, 11-5, 11-6 in a tough 49 minute battle.
But Evans can take heart from her displays in reaching the last eight of the tournament.
🗣 "The crowd has come roaring to life!"
Terrific exchange between @HaniaaElHammamy & @tesnievans 👏#BlackBallOpen pic.twitter.com/vds9OzVqwp
— PSA World Tour (@PSAWorldTour) December 10, 2020
The No 8 seed and world No 9 is getting back to her best squash after seeing last season wrecked by an ankle injury.
“I am really happy that I managed to win in four,” said the defending champion. “Tesni is a tough opponent, very talented, very tricky.
“I really had to stick to my gameplan, try to not to run too much and I think in the first game, I was up and then I lost my focus and then she outplayed me.”