The flip side of Kyle Edmund's stunning Australian Open quarter-final win over Grigor Dimitrov is that the talented Bulgarian departed another grand slam having failed to meet expectations.
The world No.3 succumbed to the unheralded, unseeded Briton 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4 on Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday afternoon.
On the back of an ATP Finals win in London in November, the Australian Open was a key test for the 26-year-old Dimitrov.
And he admitted he had failed to live up to his own expectations, as well as those of others.
"I am disappointed ... it hurts, and so it should," Dimitrov said.
"I need to give myself a couple of days just to relax ... and reassess the whole Australian trip.
"I think overall it wasn't a bad one, but certainly wasn't where I wanted to be.
"I'm very critical with myself.
"I always want a lot from myself and when I don't reach a certain goal that I've planned, it really drops me down.
"It makes me sad.
"But those are the moments that I think I've learned from throughout the years."
Dimitrov scrapped and scrambled his way into the fourth round where he played his best match of the tournament to defeat local hope Nick Kyrgios in four sets.
But the Bulgarian struggled mightily with his serve for the most part at Melbourne Park
"I think from day one I was not playing well," he said.
"It took me a lot of work to get back to playing a decent match once again.
"Against Nick, you played the crowd, you played him, you played your own expectations.
"I was at least happy I found the way.
"But all that behind the scenes, what you do in order for you to feel better on the court, takes a lot out of you.
"Doesn't matter how fit I am, I think also mentally I was just a little bit tired."
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