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Johannesburg - Those twin imposters - success and failure - visibly embodied defending champion Feliciano Lopez after he bowed out of the South African Open in the first round at a rain-splattered Montecasino on Wednesday.
Lopez went down 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (8) to Canadian "comeback kid" Frank Dancevic.
Adding to the meritorious nature of the 26-year-old Canadian's triumph, was the fact that he underwent surgery for a herniated disc towards the end of 2009, and only returned to the game several months ago after his career had been in jeopardy.
In the process, Dancevic's world ranking had dropped from the 60s to 234th, and he was only granted a place in the main draw at Montecasino by virtue of the ATP's protected ranking ruling.
The demise of top-seeded Lopez, No 31 in the world, was not the only shock on a day when play was interrupted for almost two hours by persistent rain.
With third-seeded Janko Tipsaravic losing 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (4) to Jesse Galung Huta of the Netherlands, as well as second-seeded Yen-Huan Lu of Tapei having lost on the previous day, South African fourth-seed Kevin Anderson was astonishingly left as the highest seed in the tournament after the first round.
And in all, only two of the eight seeds remained in contention after the third day, with sixth-seeded Adrian Mannarino of France joining Anderson among the survivors.
In the process, Anderson was left facing his best chance of winning an ATP mainstream event - something that would do his world ranking of 59th the world of good.
The soothing, successful day for the contingent of South Africans in the singles was further enhanced when Rik de Voest beat Polish eighth-seed Michal Przysiezny 6-3, 6-4 to become the first player into the quarter-finals, after recovering from a 1-4 deficit in the second set and reeling off five games in a row.
On top of that, Fritz Wolmarans won the first ATP main tier match of his career by beating Igor Sijsling of the Netherlands 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Dancevic, who had beaten top 10-ranked players of the calibre of Andy Roddick and David Nalbandien before his injury, said the upstaging of Lopez was the most important victory since his comeback - and a reassuring morale-booster.
With Australian Open serving sensation Milos Raonic also in good form in the first round, the Canadians were looking as good as any country for eventual honours.
Dancevic said he had not expected to beat Lopez.
"I came here early, practised hard and knew there was always a chance," he said."
Lopez said it was a deflating experience going out of the tournament at the first hurdle, and he berated himself for missing chances in a game that lasted two hours and nine minutes, with both players having match-point in the protracted third-set tiebreaker.
For all this, Lopez was full of praise for the South African Open and the manner in which the tournament was being run - and said he hoped to be back next year if everything went well.
Results from day three:
Second round
Izak Van der Merwe
(South Africa) beat Dustin Brown (Germany) 4-6 7-5 6-3
Somdev
Devvarman (India) beat Jesse Huta Galung (Netherlands) 6-3 6-4
Rik De Voest (South Africa) beat 8-Michal Przysiezny (Poland) 6-3 6-4
First round
Frank Dancevic (Canada) beat 1-Feliciano Lopez (Spain)
6-7(5) 6-2 7-6(8)
Karol Beck (Slovakia) beat Brian Dabul (Argentina)
7-5 7-6(4)
Go Soeda (Japan) beat 7-Rainer Schuettler (Germany) 3-6 6-4
6-4
Fritz Wolmarans (South Africa) beat Igor Sijsling (Netherlands) 4-6
6-3 6-4
Dudi Sela (Israel) beat Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) 1-6 7-5
6-4
Jesse Huta Galung (Netherlands) beat 3-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) 6-7(4) 6-4 7-6(4)
