Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski were Great Britain's Davis Cup heroes once again as a team missing Andy Murray defeated Kazakhstan to set up a quarter-final against Germany on Friday.
Andy Murray ground out a dramatic victory over Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in nearly three hours on Wednesday but was far from his best and admitted afterwards that he was carrying extra weight and was not feeling good about his game.
Captain Leon Smith decided to leave him out for this one, with Kyle Edmund stepping in and stepping up in a 6-3 6-3 victory over Mikhail Kukushkin that was arguably his best performance of the season.
That gave Dan Evans the chance to send Britain through but, as against Dutchman Robin Haase on Wednesday, Evans was unable to build on a positive start against Alexander Bublik and fell to a 5-7 6-4 6-1 defeat.
With Britain unable to claim one of the two spots reserved for best-placed runners-up because of the number of sets they had lost, it was all or nothing for Jamie Murray and Skupski against Bublik and Kukushkin.
1/14 Andy Murray's Wimbledon appearances
Murray's entire SW19 history.
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2/14 2005: 3R
Beat George Bastl and Radek Štěpánek, lost to David Nalbandian.
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3/14 2006: 4R
Beat Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau and Andy Roddick, lost to Marcos Baghdatis.
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4/14 2008: QF
Beat Fabrice Santoro, Xavier Malisse, Tommy Haas and Richard Gasquet, lost to Rafael Nadal.
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5/14 2009: SF
Beat Robert Kendrick, Ernests Gulbis, Viktor Troicki, Stan Wawrinka and Juan Carlos Ferrero, lost to Andy Roddick.
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6/14 2010: SF
Beat Jan Hájek, Jarkko Nieminen, Gilles Simon, Sam Querrey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, lost to Rafael Nadal.
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7/14 2011: SF
Beat Daniel Gimeno Traver, Tobias Kamke, Ivan Ljubičić, Richard Gasquet and Feliciano López, lost to Rafael Nadal.
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8/14 2012: F
Beat Nikolay Davydenko, Ivo Karlović, Marcos Baghdatis, Marin Čilić, David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, lost to Roger Federer.
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9/14 2013: W
Beat Benjamin Becker, Lu Yen-hsun, Tommy Robredo, Mikhail Youzhny, Fernando Verdasco, Jerzy Janowicz and Novak Djokovic.
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10/14 2014: QF
Beat David Goffin, Blaž Rola, Roberto Bautista Agut and Kevin Anderson, lost to Grigor Dimitrov.
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11/14 2015: SF
Beat Mikhail Kukushkin, Robin Haase, Andreas Seppi, Ivo Karlović and Vasek Pospisil, lost to Roger Federer.
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12/14 2016: W
Beat Liam Broady, Lu Yen-hsun, John Millman, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomáš Berdych and Milos Raonic.
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13/14 2017: QF
Beat Alexander Bublik, Dustin Brown, Fabio Fognini and Benoît Paire, lost to Sam Querrey.
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14/14 2019: ?
Not entered in singles. Entered in men's and mixed doubles.
AFP/Getty Images
1/14 Andy Murray's Wimbledon appearances
Murray's entire SW19 history.
Getty Images
2/14 2005: 3R
Beat George Bastl and Radek Štěpánek, lost to David Nalbandian.
Getty Images
3/14 2006: 4R
Beat Nicolás Massú, Julien Benneteau and Andy Roddick, lost to Marcos Baghdatis.
Getty Images
4/14 2008: QF
Beat Fabrice Santoro, Xavier Malisse, Tommy Haas and Richard Gasquet, lost to Rafael Nadal.
Getty Images
5/14 2009: SF
Beat Robert Kendrick, Ernests Gulbis, Viktor Troicki, Stan Wawrinka and Juan Carlos Ferrero, lost to Andy Roddick.
Getty Images
6/14 2010: SF
Beat Jan Hájek, Jarkko Nieminen, Gilles Simon, Sam Querrey and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, lost to Rafael Nadal.
Getty Images
7/14 2011: SF
Beat Daniel Gimeno Traver, Tobias Kamke, Ivan Ljubičić, Richard Gasquet and Feliciano López, lost to Rafael Nadal.
Getty Images
8/14 2012: F
Beat Nikolay Davydenko, Ivo Karlović, Marcos Baghdatis, Marin Čilić, David Ferrer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, lost to Roger Federer.
Getty Images
9/14 2013: W
Beat Benjamin Becker, Lu Yen-hsun, Tommy Robredo, Mikhail Youzhny, Fernando Verdasco, Jerzy Janowicz and Novak Djokovic.
Getty Images
10/14 2014: QF
Beat David Goffin, Blaž Rola, Roberto Bautista Agut and Kevin Anderson, lost to Grigor Dimitrov.
Getty Images
11/14 2015: SF
Beat Mikhail Kukushkin, Robin Haase, Andreas Seppi, Ivo Karlović and Vasek Pospisil, lost to Roger Federer.
Getty Images
12/14 2016: W
Beat Liam Broady, Lu Yen-hsun, John Millman, Nick Kyrgios, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Tomáš Berdych and Milos Raonic.
Getty Images
13/14 2017: QF
Beat Alexander Bublik, Dustin Brown, Fabio Fognini and Benoît Paire, lost to Sam Querrey.
Getty Images
14/14 2019: ?
Not entered in singles. Entered in men's and mixed doubles.
AFP/Getty Images
And the British pair, who had excelled against Holland, produced another brilliant performance, showing the value of having a top doubles team in a 6-1 6-4 victory.
Smith and his players can now look forward to a last-eight tie against Germany that on paper appears very tight.
There will be plenty to mull over selection-wise for the Scot. Edmund has surely booked his spot in the side along with the doubles pair, leaving Smith to decide whether to recall Andy Murray.
Smith admitted there will be no miracle return to peak fitness, saying: "It's not going to change huge amounts. But it's important after five weeks of not playing any competitive tennis that you play a match.
"It wasn't his ideal match at all, but it was a match nonetheless, and that gets you going again. And Andy is not going to be difficult to get recalling on what needs to be done.
"It's probably quite a good thing it's a later start tomorrow. We can talk about it tomorrow, see how things are going, obviously do some practice, see how things feel, and then we can make a decision."
Germany do not possess any star names but have two strong singles options in the hugely-experienced Philipp Kohlschreiber and fast-rising Jan-Lennard Struff, while doubles pair Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies are the French Open champions.
Jamie Murray said: "We're really excited to be playing them in the quarter-finals. I don't think our guys will hold any fear to play them, and likewise. I think it's going to be a very evenly-matched tie."
Edmund has had a poor season, dropping from inside the top 20 to 69 in the rankings, and only clinched his spot in the team at the last minute by virtue of a decent run at the Paris Masters.
But he produced an almost flawless display against a player ranked two places higher, striking his big groundstrokes with authority, serving very well and hanging tough under pressure.
Edmund, who defeated Novak Djokovic at the same venue last year, albeit on clay, said: "I had a good feeling about how I've been going about my practice this week and my performance on court. I was eager to really put myself out there and play my way. I was happy with what I did."
A brilliant season has carried Evans to the British number one spot, but the 29-year-old appears to have hit the wall a little bit over the last month or two and has lacked energy this week.
This defeat had a lot to do with an unpredictable and explosive opponent in Bublik, who frequently sent down second serves in excess of 125mph.
That resulted in 11 doubles faults, including one on set point in the first set that landed virtually on the baseline and prompted Bublik to smash his racket spectacularly.
But his boldness also paid off on numerous occasions and the diminutive Evans was at times little more than a bit-part player in the Bublik show.
The fast, bouncy court does not suit the man from Birmingham and, provided Andy Murray is fit, it seems very likely he will not play against Germany.
Evans said: "I've obviously had two tough days. It's disappointing. He's obviously a tough guy to play. And I actually thought I didn't do a lot wrong."
Asked about Britain's strength in depth, Evans said with a wry smile: "At the minute, the number one guy is the weak one.
"If I'm needed again, I'll put my game on the court and I'll try to get us through. If I'm not, that's all good as well. I'll be there on the side supporting whoever's playing."