Andy Murray admitted he could have no complaints after seeing his bid to retain his Wimbledon crown ended by Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Murray entered this quarter-final clash on the back of a 17-match winning streak at SW19 and was searching for his sixth successive semi-final.
However, after losing the first set 6-1 – the first time he had done so in the 2014 tournament – Murray was fighting to get back into the match while Dimitrov went from strength to strength.
And after losing the final two sets 7-6 (6-4) and 6-2 now former champion Murray insisted the better man had won on the day.
"I handled the pressure fine," said Murray. "I started the tournament well and I was playing good tennis.
"This was just a bad day. I made many mistakes, unforced errors, and then started going for too much and taking chances that weren't really there.
"I started the match badly and I think that gave him confidence. He was the better player from start to finish. It was a tough day all around."
However, Murray insisted he wouldn't be taking too long off before returning to the practice court, though whether he continues his fledgling relationship with Amelie Mauresmo remains open to debate.
After his exit Rafael Nadal insisted he was heading for the beach but Murray isn't the sort to laze around.
"I need to go away and make a lot of improvements in my game," he added. "I've lost a couple of matches in the last few slams where I've lost in straight sets and played poorly.
"I need to have a think about things and get myself in better shape and work even harder. Everyone's starting to get better. The younger guys are now obviously becoming more mature and improving all the time
"If I'm going to play better tennis than I am just now, the only way to do that is by working even harder than I have before. Getting in the gym, getting stronger, becoming physically better.
"The only way that I can improve is by getting myself on the practice court and working harder than I have done in the last 12 months. Hopefully that will help."
© Sportsbeat 2014