Kyle Edmund's hopes of taking a major scalp at the Shanghai Masters were firmly put in check by reigning US Open champion and third seed Stan Wawrinka.
The 21-year-old, who booked his place in the second round with a hard-fought three-set win over Argentina's Federico Delbonis on Monday, went down 6-3 6-4.
Britain's Edmund reached the quarter-finals of the China Open last week where he was beaten by compatriot Andy Murray, and rose into the world's top 50 as a result, but had to settle for words of praise from his conqueror as his day's reward following defeat.
Wawrinka, who upset world No 1 Novak Djokovic at Flushing Meadows to win his third Grand Slam title, claimed the only break of the opening set in the eighth game, and then looked set to steam through the second after striking first for a 2-0 lead.
But Edmund made a fight of the contest by reeling off the next three games, bringing the set back on serve and showing the Swiss he would need to step up his game again.
The 31-year-old rose to the challenge in the ninth game, and then fended off three break points in the next to seal victory with a sliced backhand winner into the corner. Edmund, at full stretch on the forehand, was unable to put the ball back into play.
Wawrinka said he had been wary about facing Edmund, who has been making huge strides in the past 12 months.
"I saw him play the last few days. This year I've seen he's been playing really well recently," Wawrinka said.
"I was expecting a really tough match because he's improving a lot."
Wawrinka added on Sky Sports 3: "He's a dangerous player.
"I'm really happy with the way I controlled the match more or less with my game. There were a lot of positives for me."
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In other results, 11th-seeded Belgian David Goffin, who eliminated Juan Martin del Potro, defeated Benoit Paire, 6-1 7-6 (7-0) to reach the third round while Spain's Marcel Granollers upset seventh-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych, 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-1).
Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic beat Paolo Lorenzi from Italy, 6-2 6-4 and Frenchman Gilles Simon eased past China's Wu Di, 6-2 6-2.
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