Lewis finally relinquished his World Championship crown in the 2013 edition of the event. Despite not being at his best he comfortably made it through to the quarter-finals as he stretched his unbeaten run in the tournament to 15 games. There he faced Michael van Gerwen and what resulted was one of the greatest matches ever played in the tournament. Both players averaged over 100 as Lewis came from a set down four times to level the tie at 4–4. In the deciding set Lewis needed 60 to win but missed two darts at double top, later explaining that he had blocked the bed with his first dart. Van Gerwen stepped in to win three successive legs and end Lewis' hopes of a hat-trick of consecutive world titles.