Katie Boulter ponders whether her Wimbledon moment will ever come
The British number two successfully overturned a 5-2 deficit to take a shaky opening set on a tie-break before succumbing to a shock 6-7 (7) 6-2 6-1 defeat.
World number 43 Boulter admitted she ran out of ideas towards the end of an error-strewn Court One display.
She has never progressed beyond the third round at any of tennis' four major tournaments and for the second Wimbledon in a row failed to even make it that far.
'Of course it hurts, it's a really tough pill to swallow – it always is here,' said Boulter.
'Unfortunately it's just the way that it is. Sometimes I just have to accept that my moment might not come at some point.
'I'm just going to keep working hard and keep trying my hardest. Ultimately that's all I can do and keep putting myself out there and keep improving every single year.
'You can look at a piece of paper and be like, 'oh, this is a terrible loss'. Ultimately, she played better than me on the day. That's how it is.'
Boulter, who was beaten by compatriot Harriet Dart at the same stage 12 months ago, began the tournament in promising fashion by masterminding a statement three-set upset against ninth seed Paula Badosa.
But having gone from underdog to overwhelming favourite in the space of two days and with Spain's Cristina Bucsa awaiting the winner, the 28-year-old was unable to deliver against the world number 101.
She served 14 double faults, made 36 unforced errors and lost 10 of 11 games across sets two and three as 21-year-old lucky loser Sierra deservedly progressed in an hour and 53 minutes.
'I would have quite liked to have been more out there with my personality than within myself at the very end of the match,' said Boulter. 'At the same time, I was also running out of ideas.
'I understand that people have good expectations, and I have high expectations of myself as well.
'I don't necessarily feel like I completely lost the match. I think last year I probably sat here and said that I lost the match (against Dart) personally.
'This year I'm not going to sit here and say that. I think she played a good match. But I have to go back to the drawing board for myself.'
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