Naomi Osaka's bid for a first Wimbledon title was ended by Karolína Muchova in the quarter-finals.
The four-time Grand Slam champion had never previously made it beyond the third round at SW19 but enjoyed a career-best run on the grass courts.
Osaka was sensational in beating world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the previous round but she could not back that up here. The drop-off in her level was stark.
Muchova came out on top 7-6 6-4 in a tight encounter and she will now face Coco Gauff in the semi-finals on Thursday.
The 29-year-old lost in the first round at Wimbledon in each of the last four years, but had previously made consecutive quarter-finals before that run.
Muchova has been in better form on the surface this year and she won the Bad Homburg Open last month when Osaka retired in the final.
“Oh my God, I was nervous," Muchova said.
"She’s an unbelievable athlete. So many times we’ve played. A week ago in a tournament against each other. We know each other pretty well at this point.
"I know you can’t lose that focus. You have to still keep going and play every point. If you give her a little chance, she takes it and it goes the other way.
"All the best to her. She’s a great tennis player. Sorry, I don’t know what I’m saying… I’m glad I won today."
It was a chaotic start to the match, serve proving anything but an advantage as four consecutive breaks were exchanged.
Both were more secure from that point onwards, though Muchova did have to save a break point at 5-5.
A tie-break was required and Muchova dominated it, bringing up four set points. Osaka saved two but no more than that.
She was producing feast-or-famine tennis. In the first set, there were 16 winners to go with 16 unforced errors.
Muchova proved the more clinical and when Osaka produced the same number of unforced errors but only half the winners in the second set, her problems grew.
Osaka survived a lengthy game and a break point to hold for a 2-1 lead but the better tennis and more variety was coming from Muchova. There was even a second-serve ace as she levelled it up at 3-3.
Even as the clock ticked past 5pm the temperatures did not drop below 30C. The standard remained high and it soon became a battle of nerve.
Serving at 4-4, Osaka could not afford to slip up but she did exactly that. Muchova floated the ball up for what appeared to be a routine drive volley on break point, but Osaka slammed it out.
The best bet for Osaka at that point was the hope nerves would suddenly hit Muchova. A hold to love to seal victory was an emphatic dismantling of that theory.
