Manic Monday followed the current Wimbledon trend of shock results as the biggest of all Serena Williams was unceremoniously dumped out of the championships by the smiling, jolly German star Sabine Lisicki who is fast developing a love affair with the Centre Court crowd.
It helped mask the hurt and headlines over Laura Robson's tame surrender on Court One when she had her match against Estonia's Kaia Kanepi firmly in her grasp as she served for the first set at 5-4 up and then promptly double faulted for the first time.
Williams, the bookies' favourite at 1-4 for the title and 1-12 for yesterday's match against an opponent who had never previously beaten her, was a bigger loss and shock in many ways than the early defeats of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer but it continues a trend that has Andy Murray looking in his shaving mirror twice a day.
Williams had lost the first set 6-2 but roared back into the game in typically aggressive fashion to win nine consecutive games from 0-1 in the second set to go 3-0 up in the final set. Finally Lisicki won her serve again to make the score 3-1. Williams was 40-15 up in the fifth game on her serve when she inexplicably put a drop shot out of play. That mistake - she would have been 4-1 up otherwise - effectively cost her the match.
From then on Lisicki's aggressive game started to function while Williams became passive. Lisicki broke back to go 4-4 and then the tension manifestly showed in Williams' face as she crumbled.
Take nothing away from Lisicki who has a massive serve - possibly the only one in the women's game to rival Williams' - but this was a collapse of the five times champion's psyche as much as anything. The woman who "owns" Wimbledon went walkabout and the crowd, firmly for the underdog, loved it.
Afterwards Lisicki said; "I'm so happy. I grew up wanting to do well at Wimbledon and it was my dream to play on Centre Court and be No 1. I feel very comfortable here. I feel great - I have played four very, very good matches, better with each match."
Lisicki now plays Robson's conqueror Kanepi. Extraordinarily this was her fourth consecutive win over that year's French champion, having previously beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova (2009), Li Na (2011) and Maria Sharapova (2012). She was absent injured in 2010.
As for Williams, who narrowly failed to equal sister Venus's unbeaten run of 35 consecutive wins on the tour set in 2000, it is back to the drawing board in a bid to resume normal duty at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year at Flushing Meadows, New York.
She said; "I didn't play the big points well enough. I didn't do what I do best. I had a little hesitation.. I feel like I could have gone for it a little more on some shots. I had so many opportunities. I made so many errors. I hit so many balls in the net. She definitely played a super-aggressive game.
"I felt I was on the verge of winning. I felt really confident. But at that point I was physically unable to hold serve. My first serve percentage was going down. For me I have to be able to serve well especially on this court and going up against a really big, strong server like Sabine."
Robson's defeat to a player ranked eight places below her at 46 in the world was disappointing as she had her chances. In the first set, especially, she was holding serve easily while Kanepi, who has slimmed manifestly in the last 12 months, struggled. But it was the 28-year-old Estonian's experience and resolve that told in the end.
In the crucial game at 5-4 up Robson failed to get one first serve in and of course began with a double fault. From then on it was an uphill task for the 19-year-old who has wowed Wimbledon with her talent and potential this year. She managed to save four match points at 5-6 in the second set. But eventually Kanepi's power and greater consistency won the day.
Robson, clearly distressed, said later; "It is more disappointing becauise I put so much pressure on myself. I had my chances and I just didn't take them (she was also 5-2 up in the first set tiebreak). But, cliched as it sounds, it is all part of the learning experience and the more I get myself in these situations the more I will benefit."
Robson has the consolation that she will now be ranked in the top 30 in the world and should be seeded at the US Open in September where she also reached round four last year. There will be less pressure on her in New York and she could sail ahead under the radar.
America's own darling Sloane Stephens kept the Stars and Stripes aloft with a gutsy three sets win over Monica Puig of Puerto Rico and she now plays Marion Bartoli, the unorthodox French lady who reached the final here in 2007.
Petra Kvitova, the 2011 champion, plays Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens while the highest remaining seed, last year's losing finalist Agnieszka Radwanska (4) takes on China's Li Na. It is an unusual lineup and one that puzzles bookies who generally make Kvitova, largely out of form since her great win two years ago, the 3-1 favourite for the title.
Andy Murray's straight sets win over Russia's Mikhail Youzhny was not quite as straightforward as the 6-4, 7-6, 6-1 score might suggest. Murray had to recover from 2-5 in the second set when he became far too passive and reactive. Afterwards he claimed that his back had been giving him trouble but that "I would only stop if I couldn't hold my racket".
This observation may be music to the ears of Novak Djokovic who despatched veteran Tommy Haas in straight sets, albeit having his serve broken for the first time this tournament when Haas recovered from 3-5 to lose the third and final set 7-6.
There is the unique spectacle to two Polish players contesting the quarter finals when the winner of Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot could meet Murray in the semifinal. The big serving Janowicz is the likelier victor to became the first male Pole to make it so far in a Grand Slam.
The other men's quarter finals involve Djokovic taking care of Tomas Berdych while David Ferrer faces the giant Argentine Juan-Martin del Potro, the latter a bronze medallist on these courts at last year's Olympics when he beat Djokovic.
Murray's ongoing back problems are certainly a cause for concern among his legion of fans, one of whom was wearing a saltire across her pregnant stomach as she cheered him on Centre Court yesterday. Luckily the tension was not sufficient to bring on a early delivery.
Murray has an 8-1 winnning record against his quarter final opponent, Spain's Fernando Verdasco. But the Scot is very wary of becoming over confident in this topsy turvy tournament. He said; "I've not play a lefty this year so I will have to return some lefty serves before then. I grew up playing with my brother Jamie so that almost feels more natural to me than a righty. But the way you move on the return is different. I'll have to hit a lot of returns.
"Verdasco is a very good player and has beaten me in a Slam before (the 2009 Australian Open). That's why I am not getting ahead of myself and nobody else should either."
