Playing through the pain barrier, marathon man Thanasi Kokkinakis has finally run out of late-night miracles as his attempt at a third astonishing, drama-filled French Open comeback triumph in five days fell agonisingly short at the hands of American No.1 Taylor Fritz.
Kokkinakis, who had already come from behind to win two epic five-setters against fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin and Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, rose from the slab again to drag the No.12 seed into a deciding set after falling two sets behind.
But after beating Zeppieri from two down, this time the South Australian battler just couldn't get over the line as Fritz regrouped to win 6-3 6-2 6-7 (4-7) 5-7 6-3 after three hours and 48 minutes of the most engrossing, big-hitting fare with the pair booming 113 winners between them.
It denied 28-year-old Kokkinakis his chance of a first crack at a last-16 match in his 21st grand slam.
"It's a tough one, I was really close, found a way to get myself in a real good position, but it wasn't to be,. Can't win 'em all," shrugged Kokkinakis.
"I feel pretty dusty - physical few days, late finishes, tricky scheduling, pretty tired, long matches back to back."
And injuries too. "I went for a slice, think I tweaked my groin, it's pretty sore now. My pec, and shoulder too ... there's a lot I play through that I'd be surprised if others would."
Asked if the disappointment was up there with his famous 4.05am loss to Andy Murray at last year's Australian Open, he shrugged: "That one mentally was a tough one to take. This was obviously the closest I've ever been to making the fourth round, so that's tough, but it;s hard to rank 'em, they all turn into a bit of a blur."
Exhausted after his previous two finishes at 11.37pm and 11.35pm, the 28-year-old Kokkinakis this time dragged the tension out until 11.44pm.
After a long wait to play because of the fifth straight day of rain at Roland Garros, it looked all over once Fritz burst out the blocks to race into a two-set lead, breaking Kokkinakis three times without facing a break point of his own.
But the Adelaide Trojan, winner of his four previous five-setters, found remarkable reserves to then sneak the fourth set after a controversial finish to the tiebreak.
The flashpoint came after Kokkinakis had brought up set point and thought he had won the stanza when a Fritz service return looped seemingly out, and the Australian pumped his fist confident he had taken the set.
But the line judge didn't call it out - to Kokkinakis's horror - and he protested loudly: "that's so far out, it's horrendous!"
Umpire Alison Hughes had to adjudicate and awarded the point and the set to the Australian, while Fritz queried the call, clearly unimpressed.
Clearly a bit rattled, the American then lost the next set after Kokkinakis made the key break at 5-5 and, riding the momentum, then earned break points in the third and fifth games of the decider, only being unable to convert.
It enabled Fritz to pounce, breaking the Australian to love to earn the final decisive break, with the Californian eventually blasting his 56th winner to seal a fourth-round place against Norway's dual finalist Casper Ruud, who beat Argentine Thomas Etcheverry 6-4 1-6 6-2 6-2 in an even later finish.
