“I found out [about Rinderknech’s withdrawal] and was like, ‘Well, this is good,’” Evans said. “And then I had so much time. It’s never happened to me before.

“To the top guys, they save their legs,” he added. “But then they have been doing that for years. Whereas I just definitely felt a bit out of sorts on the court. I had not seen any crowds. I had just been around the place and then I walked out and … maybe I made a little mistake there. But that’s part of tennis, you’ve got to deal with it.”

Just to add to Evans’s discombobulation, the first set of this match was played with an unexpected soundtrack provided by a nearby concert. Evans aborted his service action more than once as the strains of various warbly anthems drifted over John Cain Arena: Let It Be, We Are The World, Hey Jude.

He even appealed to the umpire to intervene, although he admitted afterwards that the music – which stopped after 40 minutes or so – had coincided with his most competitive tennis. “I played better when it was on,” he joked. “It was probably the best part of the match, listening to Rocket Man by Elton John.”

Evans had come out with a plan to harry Auger Aliassime – who had already scrapped his way through two lengthy matches to reach this stage – and he seemed to be making inroads as he earned a couple of break points in the first set. When they slipped by, though, he quickly became demoralised.