Great Britain have no more representatives in the singles events at the Madrid Open after Dan Evans and Cameron Norrie bowed out in the third round on Thursday.
The duo had joined three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray in making history at the clay event, which marked the first time in British tennis history that three men from the nation had made it to the third round of a Masters 1000 competition.
However, Murray's run at the tournament came to a bitter end early on Thursday, with the Brit forced to pull out of his third-round meeting with Novak Djokovic after contracting food poisoning.
Evans's battle with Russian Andrey Rublev was therefore moved to centre court at the Manolo Santana Stadium, and after seeing off Roberto Bautista Agut, Evans immediately broke Rublev in the opening set.
The world number 36 was ultimately forced into a tie-break by a fired-up Rublev, who prevailed before also managing to recover from an early break in the second set.
A wild backhand from Evans handed Rublev the 7-6 [9-7] 7-5 victory, and the Russian admitted that Evans would have likely gone through had he not made some crucial changes in the battle.
"I didn't start really well and I got super frustrated, I said to myself if I don't make a change I am going to lose," Rublev told Amazon Prime after getting the better of the Brit. "I was able to turn it around and the second set was better. I finished on a good level in the final games."
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Rounding off the day's action in the men's tournament, Norrie was on the back foot early doors against Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz Garfia, who celebrated his 19th birthday in perfect fashion.
With the home crowd behind him, Alcaraz Garfia edged a tight first set 6-4 before Norrie fought back to level proceedings via a tie-break, but the Spaniard proved too strong in the decider.
Serving to stay in the match, Norrie - who has not been at his peak physical condition in Madrid due to illness - produced a costly double fault which handed Alcaraz Garfia the 4-6 7-6 [7-4] 3-6 victory and spot in the last eight.
The 19-year-old has been rewarded with a showdown against 21-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, while Djokovic meets Hubert Hurkacz after his walkover against Murray.
Rublev set up a quarter-final meeting with Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Lorenzo Musetti was forced to retire in his clash with Alexander Zverev, who will meet Felix Auger-Aliassime in the last eight.
In the women's event, Tunisia's Ons Jabeur booked her spot in the final with a 6-2 6-3 triumph over Ekaterina Alexandrova - becoming the first African player to reach the final of a WTA 1000 tournament.
Jabeur will compete for glory against either Jil Teichmann or Jessica Pegula, with their semi-final taking place late into the night.
Ben Knapton
