I've had this happen during a practice session once in a game of doubles. I mentioned it on twitter but I'll explain a little better. My doubles partner had a lethal tomahawk serve that some people would struggle with, and the guy receiving the serve had issues all the time, couldn't pick the top or backspin, and would never adjust for the large sidespin. During a point he tried to be aggressive for the serve.....and failed, once again he didn't pick up the sidespin and the ball hit the post. I've moved into position to pick up any return by being in the servers box. well, the ball never made it off the table, it actually hit the post and because of the spin, was able to go to the other side of the table. There was no way for me to sprint around the table and thus he was able to pick up his only point off receiving that serve.
Of course, being a practice, I did get a lot of banter at me saying I should of had the ball, it was high up and perfect position, so why didn't I get it