Playing through the pain barrier, marathon man Thanasi Kokkinakis has finally run out of late-night miracles as his attempt at a third astonishing, drama-filled French Open comeback triumph in five days fell agonisingly short at the hands of American No.1 Taylor Fritz.
Kokkinakis, who had already come from behind to win two epic five-setters against fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin and Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, rose from the slab again to drag the No.12 seed into a deciding set after falling two sets behind.
But after beating Zeppieri from two down, this time the South Australian battler just couldn't get over the line as Fritz regrouped to win 6-3 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 6-3 after three hours and 48 minutes of the most engrossing, big-hitting fare with the pair booming 113 winners between them.
