Alex de Minuar is out of Wimbledon, losing in five sets to streetwise American Steve Johnson in an absorbing second-round arm wrestle.
De Minaur went down to the world No.71 – a fourth-rounder at the All England Club three years ago – 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a match that lasted just under three-and-a-half hours on a sun-baked Court 18 on Thursday.
The 25th-seeded Australian No.1 had battled back from 2-1 down, inspired by a searing forehand winner following a brilliant 27-shot point, on his way to clinching the fourth set of tense encounter between two well-matched players.
But crucially he spurned two break points at 3-3 in the decider and was then broken for only the second time in the match in the very next game to hand the initiative to the Californian.
Undeterred, De Minaur had the chance to break straight back, but he hit a weak second service from Johnson long at 30-40, much to the delight of his opponent.
The 29-year-old American then closed out the match to set up a third round clash against Japan world No.8 Kei Nishikori or Britain’s Cameron Norrie on Saturday.
It was the first time in three encounters Johnson had come out on top against de Minaur who was unable to replicate his exploits of last year when he reached the third round before losing to Rafael Nadal on Centre Court.