Ana Ivanovic's miserable season continued on Tuesday as she lost in the first round of the US Open.
The 11th seed crashed out to Kateryna Bondarenko, going down 2-6 6-3 7-6 (9/7) after holding a match point.
Ivanovic, who has changed her service motion to protect a problematic shoulder, battled back from 1-4 down in the final set but could not force victory in the ensuing tie-break.
The former world number one said: "I created a lot of chances for myself, and I'm really disappointed that I made a few mistakes in the important moments and my forehand let me down on a few occasions and obviously it hurts."
Defeat means Ivanovic has failed to go past the last 16 at any of the Grand Slams this season and her ranking will now fall even further from its current position of 11.
Asked why her form had dipped so badly over the past 12 months, she said: "I don't really know.
"When I started to not maybe have the results that's expected I was going to have, that's when my mind games play. That's when I started to think and analyse everything that's been happening and trying to, you know, fix something that maybe wasn't broken.
"So now I'm really back to basics and back to what I was doing. It feels a lot better. I mean, I'm practising really good. I'm really happy. I just feel I need some time."
However, the Serb, who held the world number one spot last summer after winning the French Open, is determined to fight her way back to top.
She added: "I have to accept it and try to put this year behind me, and try to learn from it.
"I have no doubt I have potential now to be back in the top."
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