Johanna Konta is out of the China Open after a first-round defeat by German 10th seed Julia Gorges.

Konta, ranked 43rd in the world, rallied after the opening set but lost 6-2 4-6 6-3 in Beijing.

Gorges hit 42 winners to Konta’s 18 and won 75% of first-serve points to claim victory in two hours and 15 minutes.

British number one Konta has not beaten a top-10 player since her victory over Simona Halep – then the world number two – at Wimbledon in 2017.

Konta, who lost in the first round in Wuhan on Monday, was broken in her opening service game and let two break points slip as Gorges took the first set.

The two traded breaks in the second set but Konta converted her fourth break point for a 5-4 lead and hit her third ace to force a decider.

The Briton defended well in the final set but could not keep out Gorges, who broke and then served out the match.

Fellow Briton Katie Boulter earlier qualified for the Beijing main draw with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Lara Arruabarrena in the final round of qualifying.

The 22-year-old will now face Kirsten Flipkins on Sunday.

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However, British number two Heather Watson lost her final qualifying match 6-0 6-3 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.

Both fifth seed Petra Kvitova and world number six Elina Svitolina fell in the first round at Beijing.

Czech Kvitova, a two-time Wimbledon champion, lost 6-2 6-1 to Australia’s Daria Gavrilova, while Ukrainian Svitolina was beaten 0-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4) by Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia.

However, Latvian 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko advanced with a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Magdalena Rybarikova.