Brighton tennis star Julian Cash has admitted a slow start proved costly after he and Lloyd Glasspool's Wimbledon men's doubles title defence came to an end in the quarter-finals.
The British pair were beaten 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) by sixth seeds Mate Pavić and Marcelo Arévalo on No. 2 Court on Wednesday, ending hopes of a second successive Wimbledon crown.
Cash, who was born in Brighton and remains one of the city's most successful tennis exports, and Glasspool found themselves on the back foot early as their experienced opponents dominated behind serve.
The defending champions improved significantly in the second set and were backed by a vocal home crowd, but could not force a deciding set as Pavić and Arévalo took control of the tie-break.
"It was tough," said Cash.
"We had a slow start. Credit to them, they played well and served well again. We did much better in the second set.
"It wasn't our cleanest match, but we did a much better job of just sticking with them and giving ourselves a chance, I suppose."
Glasspool added: "They were definitely too good on the day. We could have been better, but we knew everything we needed to know going in.
"I don't think too much took us by surprise, it was just one of those matches where they were better and we weren't good enough."
Cash and Glasspool, currently one of the world's leading doubles partnerships, struggled to make an impact in the opening set. They won 67 per cent of points behind their first serve, compared with 92 per cent for their opponents.
Although the British duo raised their level in the second set and pushed the contest to a tie-break, the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
Despite the disappointment of failing to defend the title they won last year, Cash chose to focus on the positives from another strong run at the All England Club.
"It was nice conditions to play in," he said.
"I felt the court was a lot harder and a lot faster than the others, but other than that, it was a nice day to play some tennis.
"Wimbledon is always a special place to come to. Even when you're practising here, it's just a different feeling. It's the best place in the world to play tennis, there's no doubt about that, so it's always a privilege to come back.
"I'm proud that we put a solid week together. Getting three wins at this level is always a positive. Obviously, it's a shame about today, but there are definitely positives."
Glasspool believes the pair can quickly move on as attention turns to the hard-court season and the US Open later this summer.
"Any tournament where you get to play four matches, three wins is a positive," he said.
"We obviously wanted to go deeper, and we went deeper last year, so it's not what we were aiming for.
"But we'll try to take the positives. It's a long year; there's still another slam to play."
For the latest updates on the British summer grass court season, visit the LTA website, lta.org.uk.
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