Cameron Norrie admitted he was well beaten after suffering a second-round knockout to Chris Eubanks at Wimbledon.
The British number one was left dazed by American Eubanks’ powerful hitting and his haymaker of a serve in a punishing 6-3 3-6 6-2 7-6 (3) defeat.
“I think credit to Chris on that one. He played unbelievable. Served well. Came out, was hitting the ball huge. Didn’t miss at all,” said Norrie.
“I got outplayed. I couldn’t really get into the match how I wanted. Wasn’t feeling the ball that well today.
“I fought as hard as I could. I came up against someone who was really confident. He played great. So he definitely deserved to win the match. I told him that. Everything went his way today, and he deserved it.
“He completely took the racket out of my hand today. I did what I could, but it wasn’t enough.”
The first 20 points of the contest all went with serve, including nine aces, seven from the arm of Eubanks.
And it was the world number 43 who landed the first blow, breaking Norrie to love on his way to taking the opening set.
Norrie, the 12th seed and a semi-finalist last year, had barely laid a glove on his opponent, winning just three points on the Eubanks serve.
But the South African-born southpaw hauled himself off the canvas and secured an early break in the second set to level the match.
However, Norrie has looked ring-rusty in recent months and Eubanks, a grass-court title-winner in Mallorca in June, took advantage by breaking twice for the third set.
Eubanks dropped his guard in the fourth, losing his serve to love, but he hit back for 4-4 to leave Norrie on the ropes.
Norrie survived a match point on serve when a Eubanks forehand thudded into the net.
But Eubanks was too strong in the tie-break, a quick one-two of a booming forehand and delicate volley leaving Norrie out for the count.
“It’s the biggest win of my career, no question, by far,” said the 27-year-old.
“Considering the moment, considering the stage, who I was playing, where I played him. By far the biggest win of my career.”
Prior to his Mallorca win, Eubanks had texted former grand slam champion Kim Clisters, saying grass was “the stupidest surface to play tennis on”.
He added: “That’s a very different person now, I can tell you that much. I’m loving the grass right now. That person who texted Kim was not too high on it. Very different.”
