Andy Murray’s heartbreaking loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas capped a day of misery for British players at Wimbledon.
The raucous delight of Thursday night’s Centre Court crowd, who had seen Murray go two sets to one up when the 11pm curfew came into play, ebbed away on Friday afternoon as Tsitsipas fought back to win 7-6 (3) 6-7 (2) 4-6 7-6 (3) 6-4.
It was a hugely disappointing way for Murray to mark the 10th anniversary of his career-defining first Wimbledon title, and he offered no guarantees that he would be back at the All England Club in a competitive capacity in a very downbeat press conference.
The 36-year-old is not yet ready to hang up his racket but it was clear how much this one hurt, and he said: “Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this don’t necessarily help with that.
“It’s similar to, I guess, last year. I had a long think about things, spoke to my family, decided to keep on going.
“I don’t plan to stop right now. But this one will take a little while to get over. Hopefully (I’ll) find the motivation again to keep training, keep pushing, try and keep getting better.”
Murray’s exit swiftly followed that of British number one Cameron Norrie, who was beaten 6-3 3-6 6-2 7-6 (3) by unseeded American Chris Eubanks.
It was a third disappointing slam defeat of the year for Norrie, who had hoped to match or even surpass last year’s brilliant run to the semi-finals.
He gave credit to his big-hitting opponent, for whom this was a breakthrough moment, saying: “I think credit to Chris on that one. He played unbelievable.
“Served well. Came out, was hitting the ball huge. Didn’t miss at all. I got outplayed. I couldn’t really get into the match how I wanted. Wasn’t feeling the ball that well today.
“I fought as hard as I could. I came up against someone who was really confident. He played great. So he definitely deserved to win the match.
“I wanted to play well at the slams. It’s not quite working out for me right now. I’m preparing as well as I can, leaving no stone unturned with my team, my preparation and everything. More than anything, I’m disappointed.”
Liam Broady was the only British man to make the third round but his singles campaign ended 90 minutes after Norrie’s with a 4-6 6-2 7-5 7-5 loss to Denis Shapovalov.
He took no comfort from going the furthest, saying: “It kind of makes it worse that we’ve all lost on the same day. Obviously I’d have preferred for us all to have won. Probably would have felt a bit better if we’d staggered what days we lost on, whereas now it’s a bit of a Debbie Downer, isn’t it?”
The 29-year-old can reflect on a very positive week overall, though, after knocking out fourth seed Casper Ruud in the second round, and he is targeting a top-100 breakthrough for the first time in his career.
“The hard court season now is an amazing opportunity for me,” he said. “Even if I could win one of the Challengers or have a deep run at one of the ATPs, I could be top 100 before the US (Open). That’s the goal.”
The trio of defeats mean Katie Boulter, who takes on defending women’s champion Elena Rybakina in the third round on Saturday, is the only British player left in singles.
Alcaraz matches Nadal record as reigning champion scrapes into Madrid Open quarters
Jan-Lennard Struff made life difficult for Carlos Alcaraz, but the reigning Madrid Champion eventually made it through.
Alcaraz had won both of his opening games with the minimum of fuss, but he needed three sets to get beyond Struff, who won a second-set tie-break.
However, Alcaraz eventually prevailed in the decider, clinching a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) victory.
Alcaraz, who is in the hunt for a third straight title in Madrid, will now face seventh-seed Andrey Rublev for a place in the last four.
Data Debrief: Prodigal son matches the master
There have been plenty of comparisons between Alcaraz and his fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
And with his win on Tuesday, Alcaraz matched Nadal's record for the longest winning run at the Madrid Open, at 14 matches, since the tournament began in 2002.
Sinner fights back to reach first Madrid Open quarter-final
Jannik Sinner has booked his place in the Madrid Open quarter-final, going the distance to beat Karen Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3 on Tuesday.
The top seed dropped a set for the first time at the tournament as an in-form Khachanov, but he shook off the concerns of a lingering hip injury to make a comeback.
After winning the second set, he then saved both break points he faced in the decider, finishing off a contest that lasted over two hours.
Sinner has reached the quarter-final of the Madrid Open for the first time and will face either Casper Ruud or Felix Auger-Aliassime next.
Data debrief: Sinner overcomes first big test
Not only has the 22-year-old become the only player to reach the quarter-final at all four Master 1000 events in 2024, but he is the first to achieve that feat since Milos Raonic in 2016.
Sinner has also become the first Italian player to make the quarter-finals of all three existing ATP Masters 1000 events on clay, since 2009 when the Madrid Open took the place of the Hamburg Masters.
Swiatek battles back to reach Madrid Open semi-finals
Iga Swiatek has booked her place in the Madrid Open semi-finals after battling back from a set down to defeat Beatriz Haddad Maia.
The top seed, who made it to the final last year, dropped a set for the first time in this tournament before recovering to win 4-6 6-0 6-2 in a match that lasted just short of two-and-a-half hours.
These two players met in the French Open semi-finals last year and 11th seed Haddad Maia was eyeing an upset when she fought back from 4-1 down to claim the opener.
But Swiatek dropped serve just once in the next two sets as she assumed full control and swept to victory, powered by winning eight straight games from the start of the second set.
Data Debrief: Swiatek statistics up there with the best
Up next for Swiatek will be a last-four clash against either Ons Jabeur or Madison Keys, who play later on Tuesday. That will be her 15th WTA 1000 semi-final appearance since 2020, with no other player having made it to double figures (Aryna Sabalenka and Maria Sakkari are the next best on eight each).
Beating Haddad Maia also means Swiatek has equalled Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova as the fastest player to reach 25 WTA 1000 wins on clay, doing so in just 29 matches.
And Swiatek's emphatic second set saw her tie Coco Gauff for the most number of 6-0 sets won so far this year. They both have seven, just ahead of Sabalenka (five).
Defending champion Sabalenka plays Mirra Andreeva in the last eight on Wednesday after battling past Danielle Collins in three sets. All three of her wins so far have been in deciding sets.
The other last-eight clash is between Elena Rybakina and Yulia Putintseva.
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