Marin Cilic had never beaten a Top-5 player on grass in his entire career before Thursday.
There were high hopes that Jack Draper would rescue what had been a lousy day for the home nation at Wimbledon when he emerged for his second-round showdown against a rival who was ranked outside the world's Top 1000 just 10 months ago.
Add in the fact that his 36-year-old opponent had been hobbled by injuries in recent years, had won back-to-back matches on the main tour only once in the last nine months and had never beaten a Top-5 player on grass in his entire career -- and a younger and fitter Draper seemed a shoo-in for victory.
Unfortunately for the 23-year-old Briton the opponent he ran into Marin Cilic, a man with a proven Grand Slam pedigree who had won the US Open in 2014 and finished runner-up at the All England Club in 2017.
Despite now plying his trade mostly on the second-tier Challenger circuit after his ranking went into freefall following knee surgery in 2023, the Croatian felt right at home in front of a packed Court One and produced an inspired performance to topple fourth seed Draper 6-4, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.
Having last played at Wimbledon in 2021, Thursday's remarkable win over Draper proved to Cilic that he still had plenty to give to the sport despite going through the lowest of the lows over the past 24 months.
When the All England Club threw open its gates at the start of day four, fans dashed into the leafy grounds eager to cheer on the four British men in singles action.
With Cameron Norrie already into the third round, there was much excitement that there could be five British men in the Wimbledon third round for the first time since 1962 provided that Dan Evans, Arthur Fery, Jack Pinnington Jones and Draper all won their matches on Thursday.
Once that fantasy was crushed as Evans, Fery and Pinnington Jones fell by the wayside in quick succession, fans pinned their hopes on Draper, confident that the world number four would give them something to celebrate.
The hollering crowd certainly played their part in digging Draper out of a dark 0-40 hole in the eighth game, with the Briton launching into some thunderbolt serves to rescue the game.
However, all the deafening roars and cheers of the partisan Court One crowd could not save Draper from losing five games on the trot from 4-4 in the first set.
That sequence handed Cilic the first set, with the Croatian producing a scorching service return on set point before he surged into a 3-0 lead in the second.
It was enough to give World No. 83 Cilic a two-set cushion.
He appeared to ease off the throttle in the third to raise hopes of a Draper comeback, but the British left-hander knew he was in trouble when he had to save two break points at 4-3 down in the fourth set and two games later it was all over.
Draper dragged a backhand crosscourt wide following a 19-shot rally to hand Cilic a memorable victory.
Cilic will next meet Spain's Jaume Munar.
Sinner thrashes Vukic
World No. 1 Jannik Sinner demolished Australia's Aleksandar Vukic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in a Centre Court masterclass to move ominously into the third round.
The Italian was streets ahead of the 93rd-ranked Vukic who barely laid a glove on the top seed in the opening two sets before saving face with some third-set resistance.
Sinner, bidding to win the title for the first time, never loosened his grip on a one-sided contest although he did need six match points to finish off Vukic in a prolonged final game.
There was never any chance of a repeat of last month's French Open final when he squandered three match points in a spellbinding clash with Carlos Alcaraz though, and he duly slammed down his 12th ace as the light began to fade.
Apart from a defeat by Alexander Bublik in Halle in the build-up to Wimbledon, Sinner has shown few ill-effects from the heartache of losing to Alcaraz in Paris.
He parted ways with his trainer and physiotherapist, Marco Panichi and Ulises Badio, days before Wimbledon, but even that strange timing does not seem to have ruffled his feathers.
With so many seeds having fallen by the wayside already, his path through to the latter stages looks clear.
The 23 year old has yet to drop serve, has conceded only 12 games in the six sets he has played so far and will now train his sights on unseeded Spaniard Pedro Martinez as he continues his quest to become Italy's first Wimbledon champion.
Djokovic crushes Dan Evans
Seven-times Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic showed that he remains a real threat for a record-extending 25th Grand Slam title at the age of 38 with a clinical 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 second-round destruction of Briton Dan Evans on Centre Court.
The Serb continues to rage against the dying of the light and showed why he has identified the grass of Wimbledon as his best chance of adding to his extraordinary tally in a superb all-round performance where he looked as sharp and fit as at any time in his incredible career.
He was never remotely troubled on serve until the final game of the match, while wildcard Evans had to scramble for almost everything on his -- saving nine first-set break points before eventually succumbing on the 10th.
Djokovic continued to dominate as Evans, who beat him in their only previous meeting on clay four years ago, saw his tame sliced backhands repeatedly crashed back past him as the sixth seed romped home.
Twenty years after first setting foot on the Wimbledon grass Djokovic is the most dangerous of floaters.
Since losing in the quarter-finals in 2017 he has reached the last six finals, winning the first four but losing the last two to Alcaraz, and it would be a brave man to bet against him making it seven in a row on Thursday's evidence.
The tone was set almost from the start, with Djokovic racing through his service games and Evans having to fight for everything.
Roared on by a hopeful home crowd the 35-year-old Brit saved four break points in a marathon fourth game, three in the sixth and another two in the eighth, before Djokovic finally broke at the 10th attempt.
Evans was ranked as high as 21st in the world two years ago, but he has plummeted to 154th and his backhand slice was totally ineffective as Djokovic teed off on it with unerring accuracy.
The match soon had an inevitability about it as the Serb moved seamlessly through the second set and then raced to a 5-0 lead in the third before Evans finally forced two break points, only for Djokovic to snuff out the danger.
It put him into the third round for the 19th time -- a men's record in the Open era -- at a tournament he loves above all others.
Dimitrov beats Moutet to reach third round
It is more than 10 years since Grigor Dimitrov reached his sole Wimbledon semi-final and back then it still seemed a reasonable bet that the Bulgarian once dubbed 'Baby Federer' would win a Grand Slam title.
There were semi-final runs at the US Open and Australian Open after that but it has never quite happened and despite him still being ranked 21 it most likely never will.
Dimitrov, 34, remains one of the most stylish players on the circuit though, with his elegant single-handed backhand and smooth all-court game a rare reminder of how tennis was before the power merchants turned it into baseline warfare.
For those still pining for now retired eight-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer, Dimitrov offers some comfort and so for tennis connoisseurs, a sunny Court Three was the place to be for his match with tricky French player Corentin Moutet on Thursday.
They were not disappointed either as the entertaining duel was full of artistry and flair.
Despite giving away eight years to an opponent who reached his first grasscourt final last month in Mallorca, Dimitrov emerged with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory to prolong his 59th successive Grand Slam appearance, the most of any active player.
It was far from comfortable for the former World No. 3 despite striking 64 winners and he required some occasional help from his opponent, notably a double-fault from the flamboyant Frenchman on set point in the third.
The bearded Moutet, ranked 69, stayed in the match with some stunning tennis in the fourth set, bowing to the crowd at one point after racing back to retrieve a lob and replying with a winning lob of his own, played between his legs.
It was another entry to his show-reel that included one mind-boggling drop-shot, also through the legs, in his opening-round win against Argentina's Francisco Comesana.
In the end, however, it was Dimitrov's more refined game that held sway. The 2008 Wimbledon junior champion broke serve at 5-5 in the fourth and then held his own delivery to reach the third round here for the seventh time.
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