Cameron Norrie loses to Dusan Lajovic in US Open second round
Stan Wawrinka, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem among high-profile players to reach third round
Thursday 30 August 2018 06:14, UK
Cameron Norrie was unable to sustain British hopes in the singles at the US Open as he suffered a four-set defeat to Dusan Lajovic.
The British No 2, aiming to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, lost 2-6 6-2 6-4 6-4 against the Serbian, with his match coming to an end a minute after Andy Murray was beaten by Fernando Verdasco.
Norrie appeared to be relishing the challenge against his opponent, ranked five places higher, as he belied his relative Grand Slam inexperience to level up the match after winning the second set.
But Lajovic regrouped to win the third and fourth sets, saving break back chances for 5-5 in both, as he only converted three of his 14 break point opportunities.
Norrie was frustrated at being penalised a first serve at the start of the fourth set for supposedly coming back after the allocated 10-minute heat break, despite pleading he had been told by officials he was within time.
Elsewhere former US Open champion Stan Wawrinka continued his renaissance with a four set victory over Ugo Humbert to advance to a third round meeting with Milos Raonic.
The 33-year-old is now riding a nine-game winning streak at Flushing Meadows after a 7-6 4-6 6-3 7-5 win over 20-year French qualifier Humbert.
Wawrinka missed the defence of his title in New York last year after knee surgery but has an excellent record in the final Grand Slam of the year since 2010, reaching two quarter-finals and two semi-finals to go with his 2016 title.
If he is to continue his progress this week he will have to overcome big-serving Canadian Raonic who had little trouble in dispatching Gilles Simon in straight sets.
Raonic, who has never gone beyond the fourth round of the US Open, needed just over two hours to book his place in the third round and his blockbuster showdown with Wawrinka.
It was a different story for ninth seed Dominic Thiem, the Austrian came from 2-1 down to win a five-set epic with home hope Steve Johnson.
The pair slugged it out on Court No 17 for more than three-and-a-half hours in the searing New York temperatures before Thiem eventually prevailed 6-7 6-3 5-7 6-4 6-1 and his reward is a meeting with another American after Taylor Fritz beat Jason Kubler who was the latest player to retire in the conditions.
Highly-rated Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded 15th, had been tipped for a run in New York having reached the Toronto Masters final, but he was undone in four sets by 22-year-old Russian Daniil Medvedev who will next face Borna Coric, the 20th seed beat Roberto Carballes Baena in straight sets.
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Tennis is back on Sky Sports screens with the Laver Cup in September while we will also have coverage of the ATP Finals in November with every match live on Sky Sports. But first, we will be across the final major of the year in New York as the US Open right through to the final with live blogs, reports, features and reaction.
