Arthur Fery failed to replicate his Wimbledon heroics as he marked his return to the court with a straight-sets defeat by fifth seed Alex de Minaur in the Cincinnati Open on Monday.
Fery, who shot into the world's top 50 after his stunning run to the semi-final at the All England Club, was playing his first match since that improbable run was ended at the hands of Alexander Zverev.
And Fery showed signs of the same fighting quality as he hit back from 5-1 down in the second set to force a tie-break, before ultimately falling to a 7-5, 7-6 (3) defeat.
The match was subject to three rain delays as the weather continued to play havoc with the schedule in Ohio, although there were earlier wins for Flavio Cobolli and Novak Djokovic's conqueror Thiago Agustin Tirante.
Meanwhile, top seed Alexander Zverev was pushed to his limit by France's Terence Atmane.
The French Open champion needed a tie-breaker in both sets to overcome Atmane, ultimately prevailing 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6) in two hours and nine minutes.
Arthur Fils recovered from a slow start to beat ninth seed Jiri Lahecka, while Australian qualifier Chris O'Connell is also through to the fourth round after Brazil's Joao Fonseca withdrew due to injury.
O'Connell's compatriot Rinky Hijikata was beaten in straight sets by Jakub Mensik and Rafael Jodar cruised past Alejandro Tabilo.
In the women's competition, seventh seed Iga Świątek stormed back from a bad start, winning 12 of the last 14 games to defeat Maria Sakkari of Greece 4-6, 6-1, 6-1.
Second seed Elena Rybakina cruised through against Poland's Magdalena Frech, while there were also wins for Sorana Cirstea and Diane Parry.
Elsewhere, American third seed Jessica Pegula eclipsed compatriot Emma Navarro, Linda Noskova beat Clara Tauson and Diana Shnaider defeated Maja Chwalinska.
Venus and Serena Williams put up a fight in their doubles clash with Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns, but went down in three sets 6-2, 1-6, 10-8.
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