By Betsefy
Cameron Norrie is the last British man left standing in the men’s singles event of the US Open after beating Holger Rune in the third round, with Dan Evans losing a four-set battle against Marin Cilic.
Norrie was far from his best during his third-round success over Joao Sousa, appearing to struggle with his breathing, but he got the better of Danish youngster Holger Rune 7-5 6-4 6-1 with minimal difficulty.
A poorly executed effort at the net from Rune handed Norrie the first break of the match in game five, to which the Dane responded by smacking the net with his racquet in frustration.
Norrie then managed to hold despite facing increased pressure from Rune, but a wild forehand smash then allowed the 28th seed to pull the first set back to 5-5.
Rune then allowed Norrie to break back immediately with a catalogue of errors, and the Brit took the first of three set points available to him before breaking twice in the second set early doors.
Rune was forced to bring the trainer onto the court, but the 19-year-old suddenly found a new lease of life after receiving treatment and broke Norrie back to make things interesting.
The crowd soon became agitated with Rune, though, as the teenager began complaining to the umpire about the time Norrie was taking on his serves before ceding the second set.
The Dane still managed to save plenty of break points in the final knockings, but his shot selection bedevilled him all day, and a Norrie backhand secured the seventh’s seed spot in round four against Andrey Rublev.
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Over on Court 17, Evans and former US Open champion Cilic went toe-toe-toe for a good four hours, but the day belonged to the Croatian with a 7-6 [13-11] 6-7 [3-7] 6-2 7-5 victory.
It took a whole one hour and 22 minutes for the first set to draw to a close, as Evans managed to force a tie-break after Cilic squandered two set points on serve at 6-5.
Both players saw numerous chances to wrap up the set go begging – Evans missed two opportunities in a row to win the tie-break – and an aggressive Cilic eventually gained the advantage as the Brit returned long.
A spate of double faults from the 2014 champion would hand Evans an immediate break in set two, but Cilic responded immediately with a delicate drop shot before holding to claw the second set back to 2-2.
The Croatian was then presented with an opportunity to serve for the set after breaking Evans again but could not do so, as the 20th seed set up another tie-break and quickly went 4-0 up in the decider.
Even though Cilic posted a few points of his own, a dogged Evans was not to be denied and levelled the match before patching up some blisters.
After demanding a “rude” heckler be removed from the crowd and receiving the backing of the rest of the crowd, Evans struggled to cope with an improved Cilic’s resilience, and a wide forehand ended his run at Flushing Meadows.
Cilic will now meet Carlos Alcaraz in round four, and elsewhere on Saturday, reigning champion Daniil Medvedev and Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios set up a tantalising battle.
There were also wins for Rafael Nadal, Jannik Sinner and Frances Tiafoe, while Iga Swiatek, Danielle Collins and Aryna Sabalenka progressed in the women’s tournament following Serena Williams‘s farewell defeat to Alja Tomljanovic.
