Andy Murray’s hopes of a fine Wimbledon victory on the 10th anniversary of his 2013 title win were ended by fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in round two.
Stalled by Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew on Thursday, the Briton lost 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (2-7) 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 on Friday.
Shortly before Murray’s loss, British number one Cameron Norrie fell 3-6 6-3 2-6 6-7 (3-7) to Christopher Eubanks.
British number five Liam Broady lost 4-6 6-2 7-5 7-5 to Canadian 26th seed Denis Shapovalov in the third round.
Defeats for the trio ended British interest in the men’s draw and dampened the spirits of the home fans at the All England Club.
Their exits leave British women’s number one Katie Boulter as the only remaining home player in the singles.
On Saturday, Boulter has the chance to reach the fourth round for the first time when she plays defending champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.
Murray is a two-time champion at Wimbledon, having also won in 2016, and had talked positively about his chances of going deep in the draw.
A poor performance at Queen’s in the build-up to the tournament saw him miss out on a seeding, leaving him vulnerable to a tough test early on.
Even after the draw threw up the possibility of facing 24-year-old Tsitsipas, Murray insisted he had the ability and nous to cause anybody problems on the SW19 grass.
Against one of the top players in the men’s game, he was proven correct.
On Thursday, Murray grew into a contest played indoors under the floodlights and moved ahead just before the match was halted at 22:39 BST.
Unlike the other Grand Slams, Wimbledon has a 23:00 curfew which has been imposed by the local council.
The end of the set felt like the natural moment to pause, coming at a time which seemed to suit both players. (BBC)