Had Alexander Zverev booked his place in the Australian Open final, an already difficult situation would have got even more uncomfortable.
The German is facing a trial over domestic abuse allegations that he denies. And while there has been increasing focus on the matter in the past fortnight since a court date was set, he would have been even more under the spotlight had he been competing for one of tennis' biggest prizes on Sunday.
Questions over whether he should be playing and whether he should be in a leadership role on the ATP Players Council while the case is ongoing have been posed to him and his fellow players at various news conferences in Melbourne.