A slipped contact lens cost Novak Djokovic the chance to beat top ranked Rafael Nadal and secure a place in the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP tennis finals.
Instead the world number one powered to a comfortable 7-5 6-2 victory and claimed pole position to qualify from group A with one round robin match left.
It could have been so different but for the Serb's eye wear malfunction that visibly affected his game and from which he never recovered.
The match began with some sparkling play in the first seven games as the pair pounded ground shots to all corners and each man claimed a break of service.
But the rhythm was broken in the next game as Djokovic's contact lens struck.
At 15-0 to Nadal, the world number three reported the problem and headed to the bench.
However, after receiving assistance and returning to the court he lost the game 40-0 before retreating to the locker room to repair the situation.
Sadly by then the damage was done.
Although both men held serve to make it 5-5, Djokovic was clearly unable to recapture his form and the next three games effectively decided the contest.
First Nadal broke Djokovic and then held his own service game to take the set 7-5 before breaking the tall right hander for the third time to steal the second set initiative.
From then on Nadal dominated as the match occasionally sparked into life with fleeting flashes of fine play from both men reminding the packed O2 arena crowd of what the battle could have been.
By the time the Spaniard broke for the third consecutive time, and fourth in total, it was a case of delaying the inevitable.
Djokovic did engineer a mini-rally to at least add a modicum of respectability to the scoreline but Nadal wasted little time in issuing the last rites.
Speaking after his victory, Nadal acknowledged Djokovic's handicap but was pleased to be at least partly exorcising the ghosts of last year's performance.
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