Norrie’s hopes are dashed by Dusan

CAMERON Norrie’s hopes of playing on one of the high-profile show courts at the US Open have been dashed by Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic.

The 23-year old, who grew up in New Zealand but qualifies for British citizenship through his Welsh mother and Scots father, lost a closely fought second round contest to Lajovic on Court 10 at Flushing Meadows, going down 6-2 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Had Norrie won then he would have faced the big serving American John Isner next in a match almost certain to have taken place on either the prestigious Arthur Ashe or Louis Armstrong Stadiums – not bad for a player who, like Norrie, only turned professional 15 months ago.

In a match lasting two minutes short of three hours there was little to choose between both players, the tie inevitably coming down to small margins here and there.

Perhaps the most telling statistic was that Norrie could only convert three of the 14 break points that came his way, compared to five out of 12 for Lajovic.

Indeed three of those missed opportunities arrived in what proved to be the final game of the match when, with Lajovic serving at 5-4, the Serbian managed to dig deep on each occasion to deny Norrie and book his place in the third round.

Norrie’s defeat on Wednesday night means there is no more British interest in either the men’s or women’s singles at the US Open, Andy Murray having lost his second round tie earlier in the day to Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

At least Norrie, unlike Murray, had the benefit of playing later in the day by which time the fierce New York City heat had dipped to something resembling bearable playing conditions.

Appearing in only his second Grand Slam match for 14 months having undergone surgery in January for his troublesome right hip, Murray had to endure temperatures touching on 38 degrees as he faced Verdasco across the net on the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Lacking in match practice, Murray arguably did well to stay with the number 31 seed as long as he did before ultimately succumbing 7-5 2-6 6-4 6-4.

Afterwards Murray reported Verdasco for allegedly going against rules and speaking to his coaching team during the enforced heat break at the end of the third set, an accusation the 34-year old has denied.

Despite their second round defeats both Norrie and Murray – currently 67 and 382 in the world respectively – are set to climb the ATP rankings once the US Open has finished.