Rabat, Morocco , 4 May 2019 | PA / tennis.com.au

Australian No.2 Ajla Tomljanovic missed out on a return to the Morocco Open final as she went down in straight sets to British No.1 Johanna Konta in Rabat.

Tomljanovic, last year’s runner-up, lost 6-2 7-6(7) in one hour and 31 minutes.

Two early breaks from a confident-looking Konta secured a 4-1 lead in the opening set.

Tomljanovic clawed one of them back but Konta immediately restored the double-break with some punishing service returns.

The Australian No.2 improved in the second set as her unforced error count came down, and both players impressed on serve.

A break point apiece slipped by and Konta twice held to stay alive in the second set, before seeing off a set point for Tomljanovic in the ensuing tiebreak.

The Briton goes on to face Maria Sakkari of Greece in the final, while Tomljanovic is set to fall from No.43 to No.47 in the rankings after going close to matching last year’s run to the final.

There was also disappointment for Sam Stosur at the Madrid Open, as she fell in the first round of qualifying 5-7 6-4 7-5 to Germany’s Laura Siegemund.

.@JohannaKonta is the first player into the #WTARabat final!

She knocks out 2018 finalist Tomljanovic, 6-2, 7-6(7) 👏👏 pic.twitter.com/cFTZbmLYzH

— wta (@WTA) May 3, 2019