What a difference a year makes, as both of last year’s fledgling semifinalists crashed out this year in the third round.

First up, or rather out, was Grigor Dimitrov, who started slowly against Richard Gasquet. Gasquet displayed some great grass court form, just in time for consideration for the French Davis Cup team, straight after Wimbledon.

Dimitrov was one of the up-comers last year tipped for greatness, yet he has not really been able to translate that once more on the big stage. It is as if his game plan goes out of the window as soon as he is expected to perform. Defending semifinal points, he looked listless and slow footed, bowing out in meek fashion 6-3 6-4 6-4 to the talented Frenchman in a battle of single-handed backhands.

Thankfully, all that ‘Baby-Fed’ nonsense is long gone, and it is not hard to see why. While Dimitrov made great strides in improving his stamina over the past couple of years, and he really looked as though he would be one of the chasing pack, he has had a rough turn of luck of late. After losing to Andy Murray in the fourth round of the Australian Open (having ended Murray’s Wimbledon reign the summer before), Dimitrov went without back-to-back wins until the Monte Carlo Masters. A brief flare of confidence ended with a first-round loss at the French Open, and he fell at the second round when it came to defending his Queen’s Club crown.

He was fairly pragmatic after the match, saying “I just didn't play well. That's just how it is.  I had too many opportunities early on in the first set to get back the break. Then, I think the second set was also pretty close. I had chances. He was playing good tennis today as well. Once you miss those opportunities, it's really tough to come back.”

Dimitrov continued to note that “Last year was a pretty intense year for me. Every tournament that I was playing was just something new for me. To come back the following year and repeat all that, it's never easy because after you put quite a bit of pressure on yourself to do well and even better, I don't know. It's been a lot of ups and downs so far.”

And what of the other, perfectly coiffured heir once-apparent? He had to contend with the whirlwind that is Nick Kyrgios, and all manner of antics, code violations, and tuneless support “choirs,” as Milos Raonic also bowed out.

Raonic was unmoved by all the histrionics going on at the other side of the net, instead having to deal with issues pertaining to the injury that pulled him out of the tour after Madrid. It caused him to miss the French Open to have an operation on his foot, and he only came back at Queen’s Club.

He explained, “I'm just dealing with a lot of things. I still have some discomfort in my feet, so compensations and stuff like this just make any pain pretty much come up. The more I got through the match the more difficult it was. It's stuff I have been expecting.  Maybe I had hoped it was quite a bit better by now, but it's a situation I'm in. I understood sort of what it came with, and I honestly hoped I'd be in better shape and in better condition, but I'm just trying to push myself every day.”

By contrast, Novak Djokovic and Stan Wawrinka continued their unhindered progress in the top half of the draw which, while it did not quite manage the drama of yesterday, still puts Wawrinka as the player most likely to challenge or gate-crash the Big Four. Surely as a two-time Grand Slam winner, as is Andy Murray, he more than deserves his place amongst the ‘old guard?’