Spain's Rafael Nadal leaves the court after losing to Luxembourg's Gilles Muller on Monday.
London: Rafael Nadal must have realised it wasn't going to be his day at Wimbledon when he bashed his head against a door frame performing a warm-up leap in the bowels of Court One as he prepared to face Gilles Muller on Monday.
Almost five hours later, the great Spaniard was nursing a weighty dose of hurt pride as yet another Wimbledon campaign slipped away from him.
His dramatic 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 15-13 fourth round defeat against Luxembourg's 16th seed Muller was his fifth exit before the quarter-finals in his last five visits to the All England Club.
It was a heartbreaking blow for Nadal who arrived at the tournament fresh from a record-setting 10th French Open title with genuine belief that he could capture a third Wimbledon title and a 16th career major.
Despite his disappointment, and what appeared a valedictory wave to all corners of the shell-shocked court, the 31-year-old insisted he will be back in 2018.
"I never said I am not going to come back. I want to come back because I want to play more times in the Centre Court," said Nadal.
Nadal feels he owes his fans a successful last hurrah at a tournament where he has also been runner-up on three occasions.
"Great feeling. Great atmosphere. I put everything on the court. I played with all my passion. The crowd normally appreciate that," said the 2008 and 2010 champion. "Sorry for the crowd that were supporting me."
World number two Nadal converted just two of 16 break points, while Muller fired 30 aces and 95 winners.
Muller's reward is a first Wimbledon quarter-final appearance against former US Open champion Marin Cilic.
In a pulsating final set, which stretched to 95 minutes, Nadal saved two match points in 10th game and two more in the 20th.
In between, Muller had to fight off a break point in the 13th game and four more in the 19th.
Nadal was always chasing the score and he finally cracked in the 28th game of the decider when he went long with a return.
"I lost in the fourth round. That's not the result that I was expecting," added the Mallorcan who had reached the last-16 without dropping a set.
"It's true that I played some good matches, but the same time is true that I didn't want to lose that match."
Federer still the man to beat, says Hewitt
Lleyton Hewitt, the last man to win Wimbledon outside the big four, tipped Roger Federer to face Andy Murray in this year's final, though Marin Cilic could break their stranglehold.
Hewitt won Wimbledon in 2002, before Federer won the first of his seven titles, interspersed with three wins by Novak Djokovic and two each from Rafael Nadal and Murray. The Australian former world number one said Murray and Federer were both experts at managing their bodies and stepping up a level when pushed by their opponents. But the 36-year-old did not rule out Croatia's seventh seed Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, causing an upset.
"Murray and Federer are my two favourites. Novak is going through the draw nicely and quietly but Cilic has come through unscathed and his section of the draw opens up with Nadal out," Hewitt told reporters.
"Federer's looking pretty good. I wouldn't rule Murray out. I'd love to see that final."
"He's not playing that different. This year, the way he played in Australia was pretty incredible -- after six months out he can flick a switch and start lighting it up again," Hewitt said.
