Andy Murray's commendable efforts were ultimately in vain as the former world number one lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas in five sets during their Wimbledon second-round match.
The home favourite - roared on by the boisterous Centre Court crowd - led 2-1 by the close of play on Thursday night, but Tsitsipas fought back to seal a 7-6[3] 6-7[2] 4-6 7-6[3] 6-4 win at the conclusion of an intoxicating battle on Friday.
Very little could separate the two strong servers in the opening exchanges, as Murray and Tsitsipas won just 18 receiving points between them during the true definition of a closely-fought battle.
Not until the pivotal 12th game would either man bring up the first break point of the match, as Murray unsuccessfully challenged a Tsitsipas shot on the cusp of the line to bring up a set point for the Greek, who subsequently shot wide and the chance went begging.
However, the fifth seed was working the down-the-line forehand to perfection, and one such ferocious effort brought him the mini-break in the tie-breaker before he clinched the first set on a backhand slice from Murray that sailed into the net.
A similar story unfolded in the second set, although Murray handed Tsitsipas a brief scare in the sixth game, getting to deuce from 40-0 down on the Greek's serve before the fifth seed came through.
Once again, receiving points were few and far between, but Murray continued to reel off first serves with aplomb in the tie-breaker, where Tsitsipas netted twice to cede the double mini-break, and the Briton took his first of four set points on a long return from his opponent to level the match.
While characteristically animated when speaking to his team, Murray was rolling back the years on the court with a scintillating display, and he belatedly brought up his first three break points in the first game of the third set.
Tsitsipas netted a backhand after a lengthy rally as Murray broke to love before holding to establish a two-game advantage, and the two-time champion faced a pair of break-back points for Tsitsipas in the fourth game, but he saved one with an ace before edging another exciting rally.
Tsistipas would force Murray to force out the set, and on the same side of the court where the Greek had already slipped a couple of times, the Briton let out a blood-curdling scream as he jarred his hip and fell to the turf.
Centre court held its breath, but Murray was fine to carry on, and the 36-year-old witnessed Tsitsipas send a return beyond the baseline to go 2-1 up before the match was suspended due to the 11pm curfew.
As play got underway on Friday afternoon, it was normal service resumed in the fourth set as both players gave the other few openings on serve, although Tsitsipas's winner and ace count was far superior.
Once again, neither man was able to bring up a single break point as a tie-breaker loomed, but Tsitsipas clinched the mini-break on the seventh point and remained untroubled on serve to force a highly-anticipated fifth set.
During the third game of the final set, a double fault from Murray at the worst possible time saw Tsitsipas take a 40-0 lead on the Briton's serve - the home favourite saved two of them before netting a forehand as Tsitsipas broke.
Losing just one of his 18 points behind his first serve, Tsitsipas continued to keep Murray at arm's length before missing two match points in the 10th game, giving the silenced Centre Court crowd a glimmer of hope.
However, the Greek fifth seed remained composed and registered a 17th ace of the match to come up trumps after four hours and 40 minutes, and his reward will be a third-round showdown with Laslo Djere. body check tags ::
