Konta's Nottingham run ended by Pliskova

British women's number three Konta lost 3-6 7-5 6-3 to world number 73 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who faces Petra Martic in the ITF event's final.

Australian Matthew Ebden saw off men's Davis Cup star Evans 7-6(1) 6-2 to move into the semis.

It was not all bad for the Brits though as brothers Ken and Neil Skupski will take on third seeds Jamie Murray and John Peers in Saturday’s men's doubles final.

Konta blasted through the first set in 30 minutes but Pliskova sealed a crucial break at 5-5 in the second, going on to hold and level the match.

Pliskova broke early in the decider and built a 3-1 lead before Konta broke back to tie it up 3-3. That was the last surge the Briton would make as Pliskova took the next three games to seal semi-final victory in around two hours.

The Czech admitted she was fortunate to recover in the second set.

“It wasn’t easy to recover after losing set point, but she helped me a little bit with a few mistakes," Pliskova said. “I just had to stay focused and calm because I knew if I broke back I could hold my serve again.”

Konta said she would take time to reflect on the match leading up to next week’s Aegon Classic at Birmingham, for which she has been handed a wildcard.

“She played the big points better than I did, and credit to her she was a better player on the day," Konta said. “I have to go back to the training court and work on things now.

"When you have a close loss like this, it takes a while to get past the emotional side to then be able to analyse it with my coach.”

Pliskova goes on to meet Martic in Saturday’s final after the Croat beat Canada’s Sharon Fichman 6-4 6-2.

Former top-50 player Martic, who has struggled with foot and knee injuries since last summer, will feature in her first final of the year and first on grass in her career.

In the men’s draw, Evans went out in straight sets to Australian Matthew Ebden 7-6(1) 6-2.

The GB Davis Cup star was serving for the first set at 5-4 but was broken, going on to lose in straight sets in one hour and 28 minutes.

Evans, who has also been awarded wild card entry into the main draw of the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club starting Monday, said: “It was a disappointing end for me - I didn’t play that good out there.

“I found it hard to play my game against him - he did a good job of imposing his game on me.”

Ebden takes on Bobby Reynolds who got the better of Ruben Bemelmans 3-6 7-5 6-4 in his quarter-final meeting.

Frenchman Kenny De Schepper came from a set down to beat Michael Berrer of Germany 4-6 6-1 6-4. He faces defending Aegon Trophy champion Benjamin Becker in the Saturday's other semi-final.