It appeared to be only a matter of time for Russian Daniil Medvedev to beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz on Monday to reach his maiden Wimbledon quarterfinal before a downpour forced the suspension of the match.
However, the rain proved to be the ultimate dampener for the world number two when he saw his two sets to one lead quickly evaporate under Centre Court's closed roof on Tuesday, going down tamely to 18th-ranked Hurkacz.
The 25-year-old, who reached this year's Australian Open final, did not have any excuse for his dip in level.
"I went out, and I don't know why. Not many times that I have no explanations or reasons why I couldn't play good, but I couldn't put one ball in the court," Medvedev told reporters.
"For him the job was to just put some pressure and serve good. Well, that was easy. He did it. I don't think he even sweated too much today," the Russian added, managing to force a smile.
Hurkacz broke Medvedev's serve immediately after the match resumed on the packed showcourt before levelling at two sets apiece.
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The Russian was then broken to love in the third game of the decider and a second time as his Polish opponent breezed through the match.
Medvedev said he had not played two worse sets since his 6-2, 6-4 defeat by compatriot Aslan Karatsev in his opening match at the Rome Masters in May.
"When you're second in the world, fourth round is a really bad result. It's a bad result. That's it," he said with a rueful face. "I will just continue working.
"I mean, I don't have anything specific I need to work (on). Just everything, just improve every day like I try to do. That's how after you can have no regrets because when you have regrets it's very disappointing.
"Now, I mean, in two hours I'm going to already forget all about Wimbledon in a way, just because, well, I did my best. Today my best was really low, but I did my best. Let's wait for the next Wimbledon."
The Russian will now shift his focus to the Tokyo Olympics, which start later this month.
"It's going to be my first time, so I'm really excited to go there," he said. "Of course I want to just play good, try to get the medal for the country... Hopefully the gold one
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