while Mike Bryan found himself unmercifully dismissed from the singles portion of the XL Capital Bermuda Open.

No, this was no marathon match of epic proportion.

The length came as a result of Mother Nature, who wrought havoc with yesterday's afternoon schedule, and brought a halt to the aforementioned match at the most inopportune time for Czech Republic star Ota Fukarek.

Preparing to serve for the match at 5-2 in the second set after taking the first on a tie-break, Fukarek was forced to leave the Stadium Court at 2.55 p.m. when the umpire suspended play due to persistent rain.

It was not until 6.45 that Fukarek was able to complete the job, closing out Bryan, and ending a run that had seen the American upset number eight seed Paul Goldstein in the first round.

The 24-year-old Fukarek came armed with an arsenal the American simply could not match.

Combining a powerful serve and an exquisite mix of groundstrokes, Fukarek was able to push Bryan around like a pendulum.

The European's favourite move was to send Bryan wide of the deuce court and follow with a well disguised drop shot. And while he did it often enough for Bryan to at least consider the possibility of the shot coming, he was at odds to defend against it.

To his credit Bryan was able to stay in the first set despite going down a break in the fifth game, breaking back in the eighth game and holding to mandate a tie-break.

That was where things unravelled, where Fukarek took six of the first seven points and cruised through 7-3 to take the set 7-6.

Fukarek continued the roll in the second set breaking Bryan in the second and sixth games for a 5-2 advantage, only for the rain to intervene.

Once subsided it took but a few minutes for the Jablonec resident to complete the job, and set up a quarter-final match against either Michael Russell of the United States or Korea's Hyung-Taik Lee, the number two seed, who meet this morning on centre court.

Bryan, meanwhile, can take solace in that he and his twin brother Bob can now focus on success in the doubles, where they are the number one seeds.