Rinky Hijikata has been left heartbroken following his opening round defeat at the hands of 24th seed Jan-Lennard Struff.
The Aussie threw everything he had at the German star but fell agonisingly short in an absorbing three-hour and 50 minute marathon.
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Hijikata, 22, took an early break in the fifth set but gave it up as the match went into a super tie-break where Struff proved too good as he prevailed 3-6 6-3 6-2 6-7 7-6.
The match didn’t came to an end until 12:33am (AEDT) as bleary eyed tennis fans hoped and prayed for the miracle upset.
But it was after the contest when an image of Hijikata emerged that showed off the extent of the Aussie star’s heartbreak.
As both he and Struff entered the player gym, the Aussie was sighted with his head buried in his arms as he slumped over the back of an exercise bicycle.
While it wasn’t to be for Hijikata, fellow countrymen Alex de Minaur secured his spot in the second round after Milos Raonic was forced to withdraw in the third set.
After firing an early serve at 224km/h, Raonic’s power left him as the match continued and at 6-7 6-3 2-0, de Minaur appeared to be putting his foot down.
As Raonic attempted to serve, he winced and then pulled out.
In commentary, Todd Woodbridge said it was “incredibly disappointing” and “this is sad”.
John McEnroe, who used to train Raonic was broken-hearted for the star.
“It’s tough to see any player walk out this way,” McEnroe said.
“It’s also sad because I don’t know if we will ever see him here again. I’m not sure how much longer he will be able to keep playing, honestly.”
De Minaur admitted it wasn’t the way he wanted it to end.
“First of all, I hope he has a speedy recovery,” de Minaur said on court.
“Not great to see him like this. He deserves to be healthy and playing incredible tennis that he has done for so many years. Hopefully he is back in no time.
“As you saw I was chasing his serve for the better part of that match. Guessing every now and again. Ended up getting maybe a little bit unlucky to not win the first set, got a little bit tight at the end.
“I just focused on myself, second set, told myself restart and managed to jag a break out of the blue and that changed the momentum.”
The draw now opens up for de Minaur after 18th seed Nicolas Jarry lost, it means the Aussie won’t face another seeded player until at least the fourth round where he could play either American Sebastian Korda or Russian Andrey Rublev, both who went to five-sets to make it into the second round.
