Norrie and Evans exit US Open as Brits head home
Cameron Norrie’s US Open run ended with a thirdround loss to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Wins over ni nth s eed Diego Schwartzman and Federico Coria made i t Norrie’s best grand slam showing, and he looked to have a very good chance of reaching the last 16 against an opponent ranked just inside the top 100.
But that brought its own pressure and Norrie never managed to settle into the match, going down 7- 6 ( 2), 4- 6, 6- 2, 6- 1 in two hours and 49 minutes.
Having lost a first set he might well have won, Norrie hit back well in the second s et and t he omens appeared good when he broke t o l ead 2- 1 i n t he third. But from there he lost eight straight games and was unable to mount a recovery, with a tally of 57 unforced errors telling its own story.
Davi dovi c h Foki na, a former Wimbledon junior champion, is not typical of a Spanish player, with a penchant for lobs, drop shots and underarm serves – although he kept the latter in his locker here.
He might well have lost the opening set had he not pulled off a miraculous volley down 4- 5 0- 30.
He played much the better tie- break and Norrie, who had saved 32 break p o i nt s i n hi s f i r s t t wo matches, withstood three more in the fourth game of the second set before breaking himself for 3- 2.
He converted that into the set and made the better start to the third, but from there it completely ran away from him, with Norrie apparently struggling with his eyesight and hugely frustrated by his dramatic slump.
British i nterest i n t he singles ended with a disappointing defeat for Dan Evans in his delayed second- round match against 77th- ranked Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
The contest resumed yesterday after rain brought a halt to play on Thursday with the pair tied at oneset all and at the business end of the third set.
The British No 1 would have had hopes of reaching the second week but he followed Norrie out of the tournament with a 4- 6, 6- 3, 7- 6 ( 5), 7- 6 ( 1) loss to 21- year- old Moutet.