Dustin Brown's Wimbledon has come to an end after Viktor Troicki beat the German qualifier 6-4 7-6(3) 4-6 6-3 on Court Three.
After vanquishing Rafael Nadal in the last round, Brown served up moments of magic to delight a packed crowd but couldn't find a way past the dogged Troicki.
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His defeat means that for the last four years the man to beat Nadal has then fallen at the next hurdle, following the exploits of Lukas Rosol in 2012, Steve Darcis in 2013, and Nick Kyrgios last year.
Brown had the crowd out of their seats early on with delicate drop shot from the back of the court midway through the opening set, but it remained on serve until Troicki broke in the final game to take the set 6-4.
Brown hit back in the third game of the second set, breaking the Troicki serve, but the Serbian replied instantly with cross-court passing shot to put the set back on serve.
With neither man finding another break, the set went to a tie-break, where some solid serving by Troicki was enough to put him two sets up.
At two sets down, Brown clinched the third with a late break and hold of serve.
Undeterred, Troicki edged his way past Brown with a break midway through the fourth set, then served out the match to book his place in the fourth round.
Joe Sharratt
