Jordan Thompson's courageous, injury-hit Wimbledon odyssey is over as the battling Australian had to finally admit defeat to his physical problems, forced to retire during a one-sided fourth-round clash with American fifth seed Taylor Fritz.
The Australian No.3, barely able to move properly after he seemed to land yet another injury on No.1 Court, finally had to call it a day at 6-1 3-0 down on Sunday, his dream of reaching his first grand slam quarter-final shattered.Â
"Not the way I wanted to go through, I was excited to play Jordan today, I was excited to play good tennis," Fritz told the No.1 Court crowd.
"It's sad ... he's been battling out here, playing five-setters, I respect him for coming out ... I feel bad for him and I hope he gets better."
Thompson, who had feared he may have to withdraw even before the first round, had almost miraculously battled through two five-setters while struggling with a debilitating sacroiliac joint problem in his back and yet somehow still managed to reach the last-16.
But his season-long injury woes finally caught up with him against the merciless Fritz when, after a reasonable start, he appeared to suffer a thigh problem while stretching for a ball late in the fourth game.
From then, moving stiffly, Thompson struggled to get down low to cope with the American's flashing shots and he looked increasingly forlorn.
He glanced up to his player's box which featured Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt, as he found himself being outclassed in a first set that lasted just 21 minutes while rain from a storm outside lashed against the court roof.
Thompson had an eight-minute medical time-out off-court after Fritz raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set, but it was clearly only delaying the inevitable.
On the resumption, when one more forehand winner flashed past the Australian, it left him shaking his head and going to the net to offer his hand to Fritz. His dream clash under the roof, as a storm raged outside, in his ninth Wimbledon had lasted only 41 minutes.
It's possible now that Thompson may even decide to give the rest of the season a miss, such has been the litany of injuries the 31-year-old has suffered this year.
Fritz will go on to meet No.17 seed, Russian Karen Khachanov, who defeated Polish outsider Kamil Majchrzak 6-4 6-2 6-3.