Laura Robson broke down in tears after a battling performance was not enough to prevent Sofia Arvidsson from sealing Sweden's victory over Great Britain in the Fed Cup.
Needing a win to keep alive Britain's hopes of sealing a place in World Group II, the 18-year-old fought hard but fell to 4-6 6-1 3-6 defeat.
The 3-0 defeat means Great Britain go back into Euro/Africa Zone Group I.
Robson was making her singles debut in the competition.
"I'm pretty upset but my team-mates are proud of me," said Robson.
"Maybe in a few days I'll think it was a pretty good effort but right now I'm devastated.
"I had incredible support from the side of the court. I tried to be aggressive and stick to the gameplan.
"In Fed Cup you're not just playing for yourself, you're playing for your country, and all the emotion that built up on court just came through."
The teenager was a late replacement for Elena Baltacha, who struggled for fitness during her straight-sets loss to Johanna Larsson on Saturday.
Initially, it looked as though the power of Arvidsson was going to be too much for Robson as the Sweden number one climbed into a 4-0 lead.
However, Robson showed plenty of fight and clawed back to 5-4 before Arvidsson won the next game to take the first set.
But the fightback clearly filled Robson with confidence and, after the pair remained on serve for the first two games, she broke to move into a 3-1 lead.
That rattled Arvidsson and Robson took advantage, winning the next three games to take the set 6-1 and set-up a decider.
Robson found herself 5-3 down in the third set but still she refused to give in, saving eight match points before Arvidsson took it on the ninth to finally seal victory for Sweden.
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