Hometown hero Andy Murray bowed out of Wimbledon on Friday after a two-day five-set marathon against the fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The pair started trading blows on Thursday evening but had to curtail their combat due to Wimbledon's strict rules over the end of play.
They resumed in front of a packed Centre Court on Friday afternoon with 36-year-old Murray leading 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.
Despite the fiercely partisan crowd, Tsitsipas maintained his cool and eventually the fourth set moved into a tiebreak. From three points apiece in the shootout, Tsitsipas won four consecutive points to take the set 7-6 and force a decider.
At 1-1, Murray played an abject service game. A double fault gave Tsitsipas three break points and though the Brgiton fended two away, Tsitsipas had the advantage when a limp forehand drive from Murray slumped into the net.
Style
Tsitsipas nursed his service games artfully with a series of big serves and crunching forehands. His 17th ace gave him the set 6-4 and concluded matters after four hours and 40 minutes of play.
"It's never easy against Andy," said Tsitsipas during his post match on-court interview.
"It's a nerve-racking obstacle to face him on Centre Court and it's extra difficult when you grow up watching him and what he has achieved on this court."
Tsitsipas will play the unseeded Serb Laslo Djere in the third round.
Elsewhere, top seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the third round following a straight sets win over the unseeded Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
The 26-year-old - playing on Centre Court for the first time - belied his ATP ranking bringing out bouts of impatience and sloppiness from the top seed who prevailed 6-4, 7-6, 6-3 in two hours and 33 minutes.
Victory
"It's my second match on Centre Court," said Alcaraz. "I was happy to play here and win because last year I played and lost.
"I'm enjoying playing here and getting more experience," added the 20-year-old Spaniard. "Playing at Wimbledon is something special."
There were second round wins for the third seed Daniil Medvedev and the 19th seed Alex Zverev. But there was disappointment for the partisans as the unseeded American Christopher Eubanks beat the last year's semi-finalist Cameron Norrie. The 12th seed went down in four sets.
In the women's draw, second seed Aryna Sabalenka toiled for a good hour against the unseeded Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva. the 22-year-old took the first set 6-2 but cracked towards the end of the second set allowing Sabalenka to claim it 7-5. The Belarusian ran away with the decider 6-2.
"I was just telling myself to keep trying to fight, keep trying to find my rhythm," said Sabalenka.
"I think in the second set I started feeling better. I felt like everything is kind of under my control. Then in the third set I was just going for my shots. I felt like I came back in the match. I started feeling better."
There were victories also for the sixth seed Ons Jabeur and for the two-time champion Petra Kvitova.
The Czech, who won in 2011 and 2014, thrashed Aliaksandra Sasnovich from Belarus 6-2, 6-2.
