Former world number one Andy Murray missed out on a spot in the Citi Open quarter-finals as he fell to a three-set defeat at the hands of top seed Taylor Fritz in the third round.
The three-time major winner had produced a typically gutsy performance to get the better of Brandon Nakashima in round two and got off to a bright start against Fritz courtesy of a hard-fought tie-breaker success.
However, the American came roaring back to record a 6-7[2] 6-3 6-4 victory with just over three hours on the board, although the match was briefly delayed due to a climate protest.
Amid early disruption from a group of people throwing jumbo tennis balls onto the court and holding up signs, Murray was broken in an error-strewn opening game before a quintessential fightback.
The 36-year-old saved three set points to break back for 5-5 before a dominant tie-breaker display propelled him into an early lead, but as was the case in the first set, Murray was made to pay for a number of double faults as Fritz quickly established a second-set advantage.
The top seed did not let that lead slip as he levelled the match with minimal difficulty, but Murray tried to force the issue in the decider and brought up four break points, although he failed to convert any of them before losing his serve in the ninth game.
With Fritz serving for the match, Murray would seemingly produce another stunning turnaround as he raced into a 40-0 advantage, but the Briton missed all three chances to break the American, who came through that nail-biting hold to set up a tie with Jordan Thompson.
Meanwhile, Murray's countryman Dan Evans continued to make waves in Washington by following up his triumph over Gregoire Barrere with a third-round success over Russia's Alexander Shevchenko.
The 33-year-old - who had ended a seven-match losing streak on the ATP Tour with his triumph over Barrere - took one hour and 33 minutes to march to a 6-4 6-3 victory and progress to his first quarter-final since April's Barcelona Open.
Evans saved three break points to hold for 3-3 before earning his first break in the seventh game of the match, as the Briton lost just three points on his second serve during the opener.
Evans's first-serve percentage dropped dramatically in the second set, but the ones that landed paid off, as the world number 30 stormed into a 4-1 lead with a double break.
Shevchenko briefly threatened a fightback as he reduced the deficit to 4-3, but Evans held firm and took advantage of more Shevchenko serving wobbles at the worst time for the Russian, who bowed out on a double fault as Evans advanced to meet either Frances Tiafoe or Juncheng Shang in the last eight. body check tags ::
