Ash Barty was knocked out in the third round of the US Open by Shelby Rogers on Sunday (AEST) but departed with a heartwarming piece of praise from her opponent.
After Rogers claimed the first set, Barty hit back in the second before failing to serve out the match in the third set with her unfancied opponent pouncing in the decisive tie-break.
The duo had previously met five times with the Australian world number one winning each time.
Despite those defeats, Rogers only had good things to say about Barty as she praised the Aussie's encouraging nature and ability to deal with real adversity this year.
"She is one of the most professional people I've ever met in my life, as well as a good person, a funny individual," Rogers said post-match.
"She's super down to earth. I mean, she is one of my favourite people.
"I was joking before, every time I lost to her, I can't be mad because she's such a nice person. It's like, man, she just kicked my butt, but then she's like 'Oh, you're going to find it one day'.
"She's always encouraging to everybody around her. She brings up the energy wherever she goes.
"I can't say how much respect I have for her and what a great representative she is for women's tennis.
"I want to speak to what she's done this season. I think a lot of people are taking it for granted. She hasn't been able to go home since February. That's insane.
"I mean, she's resetting on the road. She's worked through some injuries on the road. She's won five titles. She's remained number one. I mean this girl is everything every player wants to be.
"Honestly, I could do this for another 20 minutes. She's one of my favourite people, so anytime I get to give her a hug, I try to take the moment."
Barty herself showed real grace in defeat, admitting losing to Rogers didn't hurt so much because of the quality person she was.
"It sucks in tennis that there's a winner and loser every single day, but sometimes you don't mind losing to certain people," Barty said.
"I think Shelby in a sense of her personality and her character, she's certainly one of those for me.
"The last six months have been a roller coaster. I think back to the very first match that I played on this trip. I was 5-2 down in the third set in the first round of Miami. Tennis has a funny way of evening things out, doesn't it?”