Backing up a big win is never an easy thing, but when you hit 14 double faults, it’s almost impossible. After her outstanding win over ninth seed Paula Badosa on the opening day, Katie Boulter harboured genuine hopes of going further than ever before at this year’s Wimbledon, but her serve misfired badly and her 6-7 (7), 6-2, 6-1 defeat by world No 101 Solana Sierra, a lucky loser from Argentina, will linger for a while.

“Of course it hurts,” Boulter said. “It’s a really tough pill to swallow. It always is here. Unfortunately it’s just the way that it is. Not my best day. I think I have to sometimes just credit the opponent here. I think I’ve got a lot of things to go back and work on.”

Boulter said she didn’t feel like she had lost the match through bad play; rather that Sierra had earned it. “I really felt like she played a great match. I felt like she committed to the ball. It was coming through very fast. I couldn’t quite control it. Credit to her, she swung and she won the match. I’m happy for her. But I have to go back to the drawing board.”

Sierra accepted the gifts that came her way as she reached the third round in her main draw debut. But Boulter’s game unravelled in worrying fashion, her confidence disintegrating. She won just 29% of points on her second serve, including one point from 20 on it in the last two sets.

It probably didn’t help that Court No 1 was almost empty as the match began, the fans taking an extended break after the excitement of Cameron Norrie’s win over Frances Tiafoe. The atmosphere, as a result, was flat and Boulter’s game matched it.

Sierra began with a double fault to be broken in the opening game but in a tricky wind, which blew down the court, Boulter seemed to struggle from the start, her ball toss getting away from her. Her fighting spirit was the only thing keeping her in it and she battled back well, recovering from 5-2 to take the opening set on her third set point.

But when your serve is misfiring, the effort of trying to compensate for it can quickly spread through the rest of your game and Boulter fell away. Sierra broke twice to lead 4-1 in the second set and though Boulter got one of the breaks back it was a brief respite as the Argentinian levelled the match.

Matt Little, her fitness coach, was on his feet in the box trying to encourage Boulter but it was no use. By that stage, her belief had gone. A break in the first game of the decider put Sierra on her way and she stormed through the rest of the set, Boulter’s tame backhand into the net on the final point a fair summation of her day.

View image in fullscreen Sonay Kartal celebrates her straight-sets victory over Viktoriya Tomova. Photograph: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

How Boulter could have used some of Sonay Kartal’s confidence. Having reached the third round last year, a performance which kickstarted her stunning rise up the rankings, world No 51 Kartal wanted to at least match that this year and she brushed aside Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2, a win that will take her back inside the top 50.

“I wanted to back that up this year,” said Kartal, who now plays Diane Parry of France, who eliminated the Russian 12th seed, Diana Shnaider, 6-4, 6-1. “This tournament I wanted to show I’m at this level and can consistently play here. Last 12 months I have thrown myself on to the scene. This year I’ve taken a conscious effort of only wanting to play the bigger matches against the best players on tour, day in, day out. I’m playing with more freedom and more confidence.”

Billy Harris battled well but lost 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7) to Nuno Borges of Portugal, Oliver Tarvet impressed in defeat by Carlos Alcaraz and Arthur Fery will resume his match with Luciano Darderi of Italy on Thursday, trailing 6-4, 6-3.