Kyle Edmund was unable to make it a double English sporting celebration as he lost in four sets to Novak Djokovic in the third round of Wimbledon.
The 23-year-old took to Centre Court minutes after England sealed their place in the World Cup semi-finals.
He won the opening set but was eventually worn down by the 12th seed and three-time champion, who triumphed 4-6 6-3 6-2 6-4.
Djokovic showed his unhappiness with the crowd on several occasions and he eschewed his now customary demonstration of love for the fans at the end, instead performing a leaping fist-pump towards his box.
Someone’s pumped…
Will @DjokerNole win his fourth #Wimbledon title this year? pic.twitter.com/1iSV4rEHmP
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 7, 2018
For a set and a half, Edmund had Centre Court dreaming of another home hope to cheer deep into the second week.
He bullied Djokovic with his forehand, found huge first serves when he needed them and had one of the best players to ever pick up a racket gesticulating to his box in exasperation.
One of the advantages to Edmund’s low-key personality is he has appeared utterly unperturbed by carrying the weight of home expectation.
Soon it was Djokovic who looked uncomfortable. The number of times he bounced the ball before serving, always an indicator of his state of mind, grew rapidly.
In the seventh game he gave in to Edmund’s assault, the 21st seed, who beat Djokovic on clay in Madrid in May, taking his fourth break point to wild acclaim.
Djokovic has begun to look much more like his world-beating self over the last couple of months but his well of belief is still shallow. Given a chance to recover the break, he dumped a regulation backhand over the baseline and then slapped a wild forehand in annoyance at the start of the next game.
He was under consistent pressure at the start of the second set but repelled it, showing the all-round improvements in his game – a deft volley to save break point in the second game before winning the the type of backhand-to-backhand rally with Djokovic that would have been unthinkable 12 months ago.
But Djokovic, who had served superbly from the start, had settled from the baseline and was starting to dictate most of the rallies.
Edmund produced the shot of the match at 4-3 behind with a forehand down the line on the run that Andy Murray would have been proud of, but ultimately that game proved the turning point.
An Edmund double fault gave Djokovic his first break and by the time the home player won another game he was 2-0 down in the third set.
Djokovic is finally given a time violation and there’s a big cheer. The ball bouncing has been of fairly ridiculous proportions
— Eleanor Crooks (@EleanorcrooksPA) July 7, 2018
The Yorkshireman had a couple of glimpses to get back on level terms but could not take them and Djokovic was fired up by the reaction of the crowd when he was finally given a time violation, twice blowing kisses towards the cheering fans.
The Edmund forehand had been rather blunted but he turned to it again in a dramatic seventh game of the fourth set.
First Edmund was furious when an over-rule saw Djokovic awarded a point, before the Serbian reacted with incredulity when what looked a double bounce as Edmund scrambled to retrieve a drop volley was not given.
Edmund ended up saving four break points but in his next service game his resistance was broken and Djokovic moved through to a meeting with Russia’s Karen Khachanov on Monday.
