The 32-year-old Tomic, who's delighted many within the sport by battling back in to his first main draw in a tour-level event since he qualified for the Australian Open back in 2021, went down 6-3 6-3 to the in-form seventh seed Bautista Agut, who last week reached the semi-finals at the Queen's Club Championship.
Former world No.17 Tomic, whose victory over his fellow Australian Rinky Hijikata in the first round was his first triumph in a tour event main draw in 1597 days, couldn't keep the fairytale going on Wednesday as the 37-year-old 'RBA' earned early breaks in both sets to avoid any prospect of an upset.
Tomic has been accused plenty of times in the past of not caring about the sport but his globetrotting battles to play in minor events over recent years have demonstrated that, actually, he still needs the sport and is determined to give everything in one last shot at making the top 100.
Down at 248 in the rankings, his spirited run through qualifying and into the last-16 of the Spanish grass-court event will make sure he'll rise as high as No.214 next week.
And though he decided to give Wimbledon qualifying a miss - he would have made the cut as an alternate if he hadn't decided instead to play in Mallorca - it seems sure he'll again be battling in the Flushing Meadows qualification for the US Open.
If Tomic was a maverick from another era, French artist Corentin Moutet is a 2025 tennis cult figure, as he demonstrated by dishing up six underarm serves on his way to a second-round victory over Germany's Daniel Altmaier.
He won three and lost three of the points in which he employed the tactic as he went on to win 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-3).
He'll face his first ATP Tour quarter-final of the year against American Learner Tien, who upset top seed Ben Shelton 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
In the Eastbourne International, Britain's 35-year-old Dan Evans again belied his world ranking of 170 as he knocked out American world No.13 Tommy Paul 6-4 3-6 6-3, having beaten world No.12 Frances Tiafoe at Queen's.
