Jacob Fearnley's impressive Australian Open debut ended with a straight sets loss to second seed Alexander Zverev in the third round.
The Scot continues to reach the upper echelons of the professional game with ease in his step and did not look out of place against one of the tournament favorites at Margaret Court Arena.
But he could not continue to put pressure on Zverev, who won 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and two minutes.
Fernley had a slightly higher number of successful shots, and his forehand caused constant problems for Zverev, but there were also 34 unforced errors, compared to only 15 for the German player.
However, it was an excellent week for Fernley, who defeated Nick Kyrgios and the Aussie crowd in the first round before coming back from a set down to defeat Arthur Kazoo in the second round.
Less than eight months into his professional tennis career, Fearnley will break into the world's top 80 after the tournament, almost certain to move up a level with no ranking points to defend until June.
The 23-year-old acquitted himself very well against Novak Djokovic in his Grand Slam debut at Wimbledon last year, beating the Serbian and almost forcing a decider.
Zverev shakes hands with Fernley after his third-round victory at the Australian Open
He was unable to get anywhere on Zverev's serve in the opening set here, which was decided by a single break in the sixth game.
The Scottish player took a break for treatment outside the court due to a problem that did not appear immediately, but he intensified his attack at the beginning of the second set.
He forced two break points in the second game but was unable to get either, and luck went against him at 3-3 when Zverev broke through again after a shot from the net put Fernley in a difficult position.
Fernley was undeterred, however, and came back to break straight after seizing the lead again on a long primary rally.
It sparked the 23-year-old's first feeling of emotion, as he smashed a fist, and Zverev dropped serve for the first time all tournament.
Zverev also faced a Briton on the same court last year, finally beating Fernley's fellow Texas Christian University graduate Cameron Norrie in a fifth-set tiebreaker.
But Fearnley's hopes of achieving something similar were dealt a blow when he was broken again, double-faulted at 15-30 and then scored a volley.
This was an opportunity for Zverev, and he repeated the same pattern at the start of the third set when Fearnley dropped serve, broke, prompting the German to scream in his training box, but he lost serve again.
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Fearnley did well to hold serve after that, but Zverev avoided any further bookings.
Afterwards, the second seed praised his opponent, saying: “I think he is a great player, he has been through all the stages. I have great respect for him, the effort he has put into this sport, and he will only get better.” “I'm thinking about the next few years.”
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