‘Something didn't go right': The lob that proved to be Australian's Wimbledon downfall
It was a disappointing, but not particularly surprising, finish to Thompson's best-ever run at the All England Club, which matched his two round-of-16 showings at the US Open.
The Australian retired while trailing fifth seed Taylor Fritz 6-1, 3-0 – already a double-break down in the second set – and having watched the American flash a forehand winner that he had no hope of chasing down to go 40-0 up.
At that stage, Fritz had won 40 of 52 points, and their fourth-round match had long ago lost any competitiveness as referred issues in Thompson's right leg from an ongoing back injury proved his downfall.
The world No.44 started well enough and had two game points to hold for two-all, only to aggravate the injury a point later, when he had to scurry back to the baseline to chase down a Fritz lob – and his physical problems worsened from there.
His coach Marinko Matosevic and Australia's Davis Cup captain Lleyton Hewitt urged him from courtside to call for the trainer, which he eventually did after the third game of the second set.
There was also kinesiology tape on the inside of Thompson's right leg, which he revealed during the on-court assessment after ripping the strapping off. Soon after, he left the court for a medical timeout.
There was an eight-minute delay as all this played out, then Thompson lasted only three more points before walking to the net to put himself out of his misery.
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The Advertiser
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Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham hailed the talents of the younger Hooper, who he watched and helped develop over the years through the ACT rugby system. "We really wanted them to be here together, and we really wanted them to play together, and we just didn't get the opportunity this year," he said. "But hopefully everything goes to plan and they get on the field and they really enjoy not only the moment, but the way that we play the game." Tom, 24, returns to the starting side after playing 12 minutes in the Wallabies' ugly 21-18 victory over Fiji in Newcastle on Sunday, but several big-name Test players will be absent, including Rob Valetini and captain Allan Alaalatoa. "We've been planning for this for a while, and yeah, second row was certainly a position that we were a little bit light-on," Larkham said. Taming the Lions will be a tough ask for Larkham's inexperienced side. The tourists posted half-centuries against the Queensland Reds and the Force, and despite a strong performance from the NSW Waratahs still prevailed 21-10 in Sydney. Looking at the scorelines, Larkham conceded it was hard to argue that the Lions had yet to face a proper challenge in Australia. "Although I thought the Waratahs were pretty good on the weekend," he said. "I thought it was a very impressive game against the Reds. "We've learned a lot from that. We get the benefit of playing last so we get to see three of their games in Australia, they've had their Argentinian game as well, so we've sort of studied them quite closely. "We feel that we've had a pretty good run at our preparation compared to the other teams. "They (the Waratahs) came into the game with some tactics that worked pretty well, and we've learned a little bit out of the Waratahs game as well." 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