Britain's Andy Murray was beaten 6-2 7-6 (7-3) by top-seed Dominic Thiem in the quarter-finals of the China Open.
The 32-year-old, in his first singles quarter-final in over a year following career-saving hip surgery in January, was broken early in both sets.
Murray broke back to force a tie-break when the Austrian was serving for victory at 5-4 in the second set.
But the 26-year-old, who is ranked fifth in the world, dominated the tie-break to secure victory in Beijing.
Murray moved encouragingly freely during an evenly balanced match and produced a number of signature drop shots and volleys.