Andy Murray is out of the Stockholm Open after losing an enthralling contest with Tommy Paul.
The American was dominant in the first set, taking it 6-3 after breaking Murray three times - but the former world no 1 showed all of his resilience to bounce back and take the second 6-3.
At 4-3 Paul in the decider though, a double fault from Murray handed his opponent the decisive break, and he duly served the match out to love to progress to the semi-finals.
Defeat means the end of Murray's 2021 season, but he can at least take encouragement from his run in Sweden, which yielded wins over Viktor Durasovic and top seed Jannik Sinner.
At 1-1 early on, Paul struck the first decisive blow when he took advantage of a sloppy service game from Murray to move ahead.
The American consolidated the break before a marathon 14-minute game saw Murray save another break point after an epic 23-shot rally.
But Paul kept coming and after missing two more chances to make it a double-break, finally grabbed his fourth opportunity to open up a commanding 4-1 lead.
Back came Murray after a crisp volley took Paul to deuce, and then after setting up a break-point of his own, a mishit forehand from the world no 52 gave the three-time Grand Slam champion hope.
That hope was short-lived though, as another erratic service game from the British player saw Paul break a third time, and he was clinical in his own service game to take the first set in 45 minutes.
Murray, 34, made a statement of intent early in the second set by holding his serve to love, and then at 1-1 survived being taken to deuce.
He faced the same scenario at 2-2 but an expert lob eventually saw him hold again, before he made an impression on Paul's serve by fashioning a break point - and an unforced error from his opponent helped the British icon into a 4-2 lead.
He pressed home that advantage to take the second set 6-3 - but then at 4-3 Paul in the decider, came the defining moment.
At 30-40 on Murray's serve, his third double fault handed the 24-year-old the initiative - and he duly served out the match to love to set up a semi-final with compatriot Frances Tiafoe.
