Alex Bogdanovic faded after a bright start against Austria's Alex Peya as Great Britain were eliminated from the Davis Cup's elite World Group.
After Andy Murray beat Austria number one Jurgen Melzer 6-4 5-7 6-4 6-1 to take the tie to a decider, Bogdanovic was unable to keep the dream alive.
Peya dropped the first set but came through 2-6 6-4 6-4 6-2 to silence an expectant home crowd at Wimbledon.
And it continued a sorry run for Bogdanovic in his Davis Cup career.
He is yet to triumph in a meaningful Davis Cup singles match, though he remains Britain's second highest ranked player.
The world number 162, once one of the top 10 juniors in the world, tightened up after cruising through the first set - much as he had done in his defeat to Jurgen Melzer on Friday.
Afterwards, Great Britain captain John Lloyd said: "I'm very disappointed. I thought we were marginal favourites on grass but it didn't work out that way. They were the better team and deserved their victory.
"[Bogdanovic] has got stronger, he's got to get physically stronger. Mentally he will be a late bloomer but he hit the ball well this week.
"But you're judged by your results. He was eager to play today, but came up against a tough opponent and was unable to come through.
"Playing the fifth match of a Davis Cup tie is always tough. If you win you get a lot of credit, if you lose you get blasted - that's the name of the game."
Lloyd said he was happy "to take the rap" for the decision to rest Murray from the doubles.
606: DEBATE
It started well enough for Bogdanovic against Peya. By targeting his opponent's weaker backhand side, the Briton elicited errors, breaking in the fourth game and again to win the set.
But the errors almost inevitably crept into his game, and a double-fault followed by an unforced error gave Peya his first break in the second set.
Peya did not have things entirely his own way as Bogdanovic battled back to level at 4-4 but when push came to shove it was the Austrian's game that was stronger.
Bogdanovic was broken immediately at the start of the third set and the fourth set was totally one-sided.
Earlier, Murray was initially troubled by dew and looked out of sorts at Wimbledon.
But he survived six early break points in his first three service games, and despite losing a set he then dominated.
After racing through the final set, he told BBC television: "He was playing like he had nothing to lose, going for everything as though he didn't think he could win.
"I just had to try and stay focused the whole match and managed to do it.
"He played the first two sets similar to the US Open [when he was taken to five sets by Melzer en route to the final], going for everything and hitting the ball huge.
"But he started to tire a bit and I started to get into my rhythm and he stated to struggle towards the end."
The British number one was in the feistiest of moods during his defeat of Melzer and victory would have tasted sweet after the Austrian had questioned his ability to cope with pressure.
Melzer produced his best tennis in the second set to prevent a 3-0 result for Murray, and though he remained dangerous Murray stepped up the pressure on his visibly tiring opponent, making a critical break in the seventh game of the third set to go 2-1 up.
The final set was largely one-way traffic.
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