HEATHER WATSON was dumped out of Wimbledon in a classic case of After the Lord Mayor’s Show.
The British No3 failed to find any inspiration on Centre Court as she was defeated 6-2 6-4 by German outsider Jule Niemeier in the last 16 of the Championships.
It was a huge disappointment for the Guernsey star, who had been outstanding in her previous encounter on SW19 in the third round.
Before the first ball was struck in anger this afternoon, there was a special Champions Parade of former winners.
Mega stars like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Billie Jean King, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg were among the 26 former champions who took part in the 100th Centre Court anniversary celebrations.
Yet once all the legends had departed and thousands of photos had been taken, it fell incredibly flat, in terms of atmosphere, and hundreds of people took the opportunity to get lunch.
There were lots of empty seats in the 15,000-seater arena when Watson came out for the biggest match of her life but 27 minutes later she found herself one set down and whacking the ball against the net in frustration.
Watson, 30, was not competitive, failing to give the home fans something to cheer, and was undone by a break of serve in the fifth game.
In the second set, despite the Brit being 2-0 up, Niemeier, 22, responded with some fabulous hand skills.
And the world No97 gained a key break of serve when Watson double-faulted in game seven.
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Watson is the latest British woman to depart these Championships after the best run of her life.
And though there are no rankings point on offer, the prize money of £190,000 will have made these a satisfying and memorable seven days.
It will now be an all-German quarter-final as Dortmund debutant Niemeier battles fellow countrywoman Tatjana Maria for a place in the semi-finals on Thursday.
