Just to make the start line at Wimbledon was an achievement for Andy Murray, not to mention the wonders of medical science.
He provided a massive first week bonus to the tournament but it all came to a shuddering halt last night, when he was hustled out of the tournament by one of the young talents sure to outstay his career.
Murray now has the unusual situation of a middle weekend to contemplate his future after going down 6-4 6-2 6-2 to 22 year-old Denis Shapovalov. His rousing send off at the end will not have been much consolation.
Denis Shapovalov won in straight sets to end Andy Murray's run at this year's Wimbledon
The Scot crashed out in straight sets in the third round on Centre Court in a commanding display from the Canadian
Murray was the latest player to slip on the Wimbledon courts but did not suffer an injury
It was the first time the 34 year-old Scot has gone out of the third round since his debut in 2005, and his heaviest defeat ever defeat at The Championships.
That he made it here at all was something, given what the last four years have been like. Even a few weeks ago, prior to him playing at Queen’s Club, there were grave doubts over whether he could be vaguely competitive at this level in his reduced physical state.
He showed that he can be, but it will remain a matter of conjecture whether he will be able to be back here and once more play in front of, God willing, a permitted full house.
Twice he has been assisted by the closure of the roof this week in his normal evening slot, but the chance to reset and refresh after the second set would not be enough to save him this time.
He went on to fight back from 4-1 down in the first set after suffering two breaks
It is Shapovalov who will spend the next two days preparing for the second week, with the home singles contingent whittled down to two after what had been a broadly encouraging first four days.
After the defeat of Dan Evans against Sebastian Korda this was the second instalment of a seasoned British grass courter going up against the finest North American youngsters.
By the time Murray walked on it was nearly 7pm with every prospect that the roof would come into use at some point due to the preceding matches running on.
Another cause was the new 1.30pm Centre Court starts, despite the embarrassingly swift unravelling of the another policy introduced this week, a 30-minute gap between matches on the main arena.
