KATIE BOULTER was unable to give herself the perfect birthday present today as her bid for an Olympic medal alongside Heather Watson ended with a quarter-final loss to Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini.

It always looked an uphill task against the third seeds, who reached the French Open final earlier this summer, and Boulter and Watson were decisively second best in a 6-3 6-1 defeat.

Boulter, who turned 28 today, and Watson had exceeded expectations to make it this far, beating two quality pairs, but this was another step up.