Sinead Lohan's AIG Irish Open dreams were shattered as she went down 7-6 6-4 to England's Jodie Anna Burrage in Saturday's final.
The US-based Irish hope earned her spot in the decider with a 7-5 6-0 win over Emily Appleton at the Fitzwilliam Lawn Tennis Club.
However Waterford 22-year-old Lohan, ranked 909th in the world, fell at the last hurdle to Burrage, an 18-year-old whose power proved decisive.
Lohan was playing with an injury during most of the tournament, and it affected her serve in a clash that required a tie-break in the opening set.
Burrage took the early advantage in the first set, but Lohan steadied herself with some patient play to see her edge into a 3-2 lead.
Burrage rallied to level the tie before pressing ahead to 5-3 by winning the next two games.
The Londoner's playing style was loaded with power, and she hit several aces with impressive precision throughout the match.
But she struggled to control the range of her shots at times, which resulted in points being conceded to Lohan.
While serving at 5-5, she committed a number of double-faults which ultimately surrendered the game to her Irish opponent.
It looked as though the Ireland number one had found her rhythm thereafter, and was about to clinch the first set when she went 6-5 up.
But with a set point at her mercy, she hit the net to send the game into deuce. Burrage capitalised on that opportunity and snatched the game from Lohan's grip to bring the match into a tie-break.
Burrage raced into a 5-2 lead before Lohan began engineering a comeback. And although she reduced the deficit to just one score at 6-5, Burrage held her composure to narrowly prevail and take the opening set.
Lohan appeared to have shaken off that setback, and made the stronger start in the second set. Signs of a comeback looked encouraging at 3-1 up, but she slipped up at game point to allow Burrage reclaim the momentum.
Burrage revived from 40-0 down to win that game and made full use of her serve in the subsequent game to make it 3-3.
Lohan persisted with a fight back and was still in contention at 5-4, but Burrage produced some excellent tennis on the way to sealing the title with a 6-4 win in the second set.
In the men's decider, Switzerland's Adrien Bossel battled back from a set down to beat American Peter Kobelt 3-6 6-4 7-6.
