British number two Heather Watson went out of the Citi Open in Washington with a straight-sets defeat by French fourth seed Alize Cornet.
Watson, ranked 45 places lower than Cornet at 76 in the world, lost 6-4 6-4 in the second round.
The 21-year-old Briton has been working with American Chip Brooks in Washington after recently splitting with coach Mauricio Hadad.
Heather Watson was knocked out in the first qualifying tound of the Rogers Cup in Toronto but Laura Robson goes straight in to the main draw.
British number three Johanna Konta won the Vancouver Open women's title by beating Canada's Sharon Fichman.
The 6-2 6-4 win against the third seed was 22-year-old Konta's second title in a week on the second-tier Pro Circuit after her triumph in Winnipeg.
Today's new rankings show Laura Robson stays ar 32, Heather Watson drops to 79 and Johanna Konta rises from 147 to 115.
Laura Robson was forced to pull out of her opening match at the Rogers Cup in Toronto with a wrist injury.
The British number one, ranked 32 in the world, was scheduled to face Belgian Yanina Wickmayer, the world number 59, on Monday.
But Robson, 19, withdrew shortly before the match and was replaced in the draw by lucky loser Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
Robson, who reached the last 16 at Wimbledon, will aim to recover before the US Open starts on 26 August.
Laura Robson is expected to be seeded for the US Open but this is subject to her recovering from that wrist injury. She would be the first British woman to be seeded at a Grand Slam event since Jo Durie at the 1987 Australian Open.
Heather Watson should be in the main draw without the need to go through the qualifying rounds.
I'm certainly looking forward to seeing how they both perform at the US Open - what a shame that Laura Robson has an injury though.
Both Laura Robson and Johanna Konta have reached the third round of the Guangzhou Open in China. Laura Robson will be hoping to go one step better than last year when she was the losing finalist. She is seeded 3 in this tournament and with the first seed already out on paper the final would be between her and Alize Cornet, the second seed.
Laura Robson was beaten in the first round in the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan.
Meanwhile the British number 3 Johanna Konta is making progress in an International Women's Tennis Open in China where she had just progressed into the third round. (This Chinese tournament is a tier lower than the Japanese one).
British number two Heather Watson was knocked out of the China Open at the first round stage following a three-set defeat by American Varvara Lepchenko.
Watson, 21, beat the player ranked 21 places higher in the world at this year's Aegon International, but was unable to repeat the feat despite taking the first set 6-1.
Lepchenko broke the Brit twice in the second and third sets to take both 6-3.
Laura Robson plays in the same tournament tomorrow.
Yesterday British number one Laura Robson beat Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic to reach round two of the China Open.
Robson won 7-6 (7-3) 4-6 6-1 against the 33rd-ranked Zakapalova, and will next meet Germany's Angelique Kerber.
The 19-year-old Robson is ranked 38th in the world and is still seeking her first WTA title, while Kerber, 25, a two-time winner, is ranked ninth.
Terrible day for Heather Watson as she was beaten 4-6, 4-6 in the first round of the Osaka open. She won this competition last year and the result of this loss will be that her ranking which had already fallen to 92 will plummet to somewhere in the 130s when the rankings are released next Monday.
This could well mean that Johanna Konta replaces her as the British number 2.
Heather Watson is only 21 so she does have time to recover but 2013 must have been a nightmare year for her.
Laura Robson has parted company with her coach Miles MacLagan just 4 months after starting to work with him. She wants a fresh start for the 2014 season.
Heather Watson knocked out again in the first round of the Luxembourg Open beaten in 3 sets by the higher ranked Yanina Wickmayer. Now that she has dropped out of the top 100 she will have to go through the qualifying stages go get to the main part of the draw for tournaments so may start to get some wins playing against non top 100 players.
In the ITF tournament at Barnstaple (where Judy Murray is monitoring the progress of several of the British women) Heather Watson, Johanna Konta and Naomi Broady have won their first two matches and are in the quarter finals. Naomi Broady is facing the number one seed Annika Beck. The most interesting match in the quarter finals from a British viewpoint is the one between Heather Watson and Johanna Konta. This is the battle between the British numbers 2 and 3, fairly close in the rankings at this time and could be critical in seeing how Heather Watson is playing now.
Naomi Broady lost in straight sets to the number one seed Annika Beck.
Breaking news - Heather Watson had to retire from her match with Johanna Konta after losing the first 4 games of the first set. I don't know what the cause is at this stage but this could be grim news for her. Eariler today, a news item appeared where she said that earlier this year she had seriously considered retiring from professional tennis even though she is only 21. http://www.10sballs.com/2013/1...r-illness-this-year/
Johanna Konta was narrowly defeated in the semi-final by 1 set to two with the last two sets being settled by a tie break.
After a break she's back in action with Heather Watson in the doubles- very early in the match at the time of posting. In the other semi-final Naomi Broady and Kristyna Pliskova have won so there will be at least one British player in tomorrow's doubles final.
Edited - Johanna Konta and Heather Watson were beaten in the doubles but they were not seeded and were up against the number 2 seeds.
Former British number one Elena Baltacha has announced her retirement from tennis with immediate effect.
The 30-year-old, who won 11 singles titles, reached the third round of Wimbledon in 2002 and the same stage of the Australian Open, in 2005 and 2010.
The Scot reached a career-high ranking of 49 in 2010, but struggled with injury and illness during her career.
"My body has taken such a bruising over the last 16 years and that's finally taken its toll," she said.
"I have had some amazing experiences through playing tennis - some incredible highs and some very low lows - and I wouldn't change any of them but now my mind and my body are telling me it's time to move on to a new phase of my life."
Baltacha was diagnosed at the age of 19 with primary sclerosing cholangitis, a chronic liver condition which compromises the immune system.
But she went on to enjoy a successful career, representing Great Britain for 12 consecutive years in the Fed Cup and competing at the London 2012 Olympics.
She returned from a nine-month injury layoff to win the ITF Nottingham Challenge in June, but was knocked out in the first round of Wimbledon and failed to qualify for the US Open in August.
Baltacha now plans to dedicate herself to coaching and developing the academy she founded in 2012 with her coach Nino Severino.
"I still absolutely love tennis and I want to take that passion and put it into learning to be the best coach I can be so that I can take all my experiences as a player and use that to help develop the next generation of British tennis players," she added.
"We believe that no matter what background you are from, that all children, rich or poor, should have the opportunity to play tennis. Hopefully we'll produce a champion one day."
Britain's Fed Cup captain Judy Murray said Baltacha set a great example for emerging players to follow.
"Bally has been the most incredible ambassador for women's tennis in Britain for the past 12 years. Her work ethic and competitive spirit are second to none," said Murray.
"If we could bottle those qualities, we would have many more top players. She's the perfect role model for our junior girls and the Fed Cup won't be the same without her."
British number one Laura Robson is to start working with veteran American coach Nick Saviano.
Melbourne-born Robson, 19, has been without a coach since splitting from Miles Maclagan in October.
Robson has been training at 57-year-old Saviano's academy in Florida during the off-season.
Former world number 163 Jesse Witten, 31, will also work with Robson as the American will act as her coach and hitting partner during tournaments.
Saviano also coaches Robson's best friend Eugenie Bouchard and is expected to accompany the Canadian teenager to the big tournaments.
Robson performed well at the grand slams in 2013, making the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time and the third round at both the Australian and US Opens.
The 19-year-old was seeded for the first time at a slam in New York but finished the season ranked 45th after disappointing results in Asia.
Robson will begin her 2014 season at the ASB Classic in Auckland, which begins on 31 December this year.
British number three Heather Watson has appointed Argentine Diego Veronelli as her new coach ahead of the 2014 season.
Watson split with Colombian Mauricio Hadad in July and worked with Jeremy Bates for the US hard court stretch.
But she has not had a coach since the end of a 2013 campaign that was hampered by glandular fever.
The 21-year-old was introduced to Veronelli by his compatriot Dante Bottini, who she knows well from her time at the Bollettieri Academy.
Bottini is currently coaching men's world number 16 Kei Nishikori.
The 34-year-old is based in Florida but has been working with Watson in London for the past week-and-a-half.
He has previously coached Joao Souza of Brazil and Argentina's Paula Ormaechea.
The pair will travel to Australia on 30 December, where Watson hopes to play in Brisbane, Sydney and at the Australian Open.
Having slipped to 121st in the world rankings, Watson is likely to have to come through qualifying to contest the main draw of all three tournaments.
Watson and Veronelli will review their partnership after the Australian hard court season.
First round of the qualifying rounds of the Australian Open was overnight. Wins for Heather Watson and Johanna Konta, but Tara Moore lost.
There must be doubts about Laura Robson being able to play in the Open due to a recurring wrist problem and having to pull out of a match the other day. She would be in the main draw if she plays.
Heather Watson made swift progress into the third and final round of qualifying at the Australian Open.
The 21-year-old British number three led Stephanie Foretz Gacon 6-0 2-0 at Melbourne Park when the French player retired.
Watson will play American Irina Falconi on Saturday for a place in the main draw.
However, Johanna Konta, the British number two, is out after losing 6-1 6-2 to Ukraine's Olga Savchuk.
Laura Robson believes that she has recovered from her wrist injury. She has a tough first round match against the 18th seed Kirsten Flipkens.
The WTA have been having a campaign to promote women's tennis. It's called Strong is Beautiful. Various top players have had photos issued as part of the campaign and this is the one of Laura Robson:
and here is Heather Watson's:
More photos and some videos can be seen here:
http://www.wtatennis.com/strong-is-beautiful
Both are playing at the moment!
I can't stay up to follow the matches - but good luck to both Heather and Laura!
Not good news to report.
Laura Robson and Heather Watson were beaten as British interest in the women's singles ended swiftly at the Australian Open.
Both players took on higher-ranked opposition in the first round, but the manner of their defeats differed sharply.
Robson spent just 50 minutes on court in a 6-3 6-0 thrashing by 18th seed Kirsten Flipkens - the Briton's first full match of the season following a wrist injury.
Watson, in contrast, kept 31st seed Daniela Hantuchova occupied for two hours and 34 minutes before going down 7-5 3-6 6-3 to the Slovakian.
With both Robson and Watson scheduled among the opening matches, it took less than three hours for Andy Murray to be left as the lone Briton in singles competition.
Robson, who turns 20 next week, arrived in Melbourne with a wrist injury but said before the match that it was no longer causing her any pain.
A lack of match sharpness was certainly clear from the outset on Court Three, as she opened with four straight errors to drop serve and lost the first nine points in a row.
There was a big cheer for the Australian-born Robson when she finally got on the board but Flipkens, a Wimbledon semi-finalist last year, was much the stronger.
Robson simply could not find her range and racked up 32 errors to her opponent's four as she lost eight straight games and became the first player to go out of the tournament.
"It was up and down the whole time, and I don't think I ever really got into a rhythm at all," said Robson.
"I wasn't really able to deal with her slice that well. It just didn't go well. I definitely expected to play better, but it happens.
"And I didn't really have any expectations going in because I didn't know what it was going to be like out there."
While Robson trooped unhappily back to the locker room, Watson was only just getting going on the nearby Court Two against Hantuchova.
The 21-year-old from Guernsey, who came through three rounds of qualifying, recovered an early break in the first set but double-faulted facing a fourth break point at 5-5, and smacked her racquet in frustration.
Hantuchova's heavier, flatter hitting had just given her the edge in the first set but Watson began to step in and attack the returns in the second, breaking twice to force a decider.
Fighting spirit is rarely in short supply where Watson is concerned and she battled back from 0-40 in her first service game, before recovering from 4-1 down to trail 4-3.
She had spent most of the match trying to keep pace with Hantuchova, however, and the pressure ultimately told when the Briton was broken for a fifth and decisive time.
"I felt I was close throughout the match," said Watson.
"I started slow in the third set - I should have got up while she went to the bathroom [before the final set] and kept moving - but I had plenty of chances and didn't take them."
Watson is ranked 121st after suffering with glandular fever in 2013, and she will slip further after failing to match last year's run to the third round in Melbourne.
"I feel like it's an opportunity lost for me," she added.
"I really looked forward to this draw, but I've played 10 matches already this year - if you'd told me that last year I would have taken it in a second.
"Even though I might be dropping in the rankings, I'm not worried about that. I've had a good start to the year, I've improved as a player, and it's been a positive few weeks."
The Canadian, Eugenie Bouchard, appears to be the rising star at the moment and on the verge of the WTA Top 30 - hopefully Laura can close the gap as this season progresses.
Laura Robson's wrist injury is ongoing and this will impede her chances of improving her ranking.
Today's news is not good:
Laura Robson has withdrawn from Great Britain's Fed Cup tie against Hungary due to an ongoing wrist injury.
British number one Robson, 20, will be replaced by 22-year-old Jocelyn Rae.
GB captain Judy Murray said: "While we are obviously going to miss Laura on and off the court in Budapest, it's a great opportunity for me to bring Joss into the team as a doubles specialist.
"She has shown her potential winning gold at the Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010 and is back to full fitness."
Rae joins Heather Watson, Johanna Konta and Tara Moore in the GB team, which faces Hungary, Latvia and Romania in the group stages.
The Fed Cup takes place from 4-9 February
Because Heather Watson got to the third round of the Australian Open last year, this result will see her position in the rankings drop from 121 to the 140s. However it is probable that her rankings will improve significantly during 2014.
Today's rankings show a worse drop than I had expected. Heather Watson has dropped to 161. The reason being that the number of rankings points awarded this time seems to have changed from last year and the Wiki article on the Australian Open 2014 is incorrect.
Laura Robson has dropped from 48 to 58. Johanna Konta remains at 114.
Someone to look out for over the next year or so:
Katie Boulter is determined to clinch a junior Grand Slam crown before shifting her focus to the professional circuit.
Boulter, 17, who teamed up with Serbian Ivana Jorovic, lost the Australian Open girl's doubles final last week.
British number one junior Boulter, who went out in the last 16 of the singles draw, is now 18th in the International Tennis Federation's junior rankings.
"I know we both want to get the title - that is our next aim together," Boulter told BBC Radio Leicester.
"I definitely want to make the back-end of these next two Grand Slams because they will be the last couple of Grand Slams I play.
"I probably won't play in the US Open as I will be moving more into the women's game."
Leicestershire's Boulter claimed her first professional title in December, teaming up with Belgian Justine De Sutter to win the Sharm El Sheikh doubles tournament in Egypt.
She is now concentrating on emulating the achievement with Jorovic in a Grand Slam, confirming that she will partner the world number three junior at the French Open and Wimbledon.
"It's something that inspires me and definitely inspired my partner," Boulter added.
"We played a very good tournament together in what was the first time we'd played together."
