| Venue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 29 August-11 September |
| Coverage: Daily radio commentaries across BBC Sounds and the BBC Sport website and app, with selected live text commentaries and match reports on the website and app |
British number one Cameron Norrie reached the US Open fourth round for the first time with a composed victory over Denmark’s 28th seed Holger Rune.
Norrie won 7-5 6-4 6-1 against the 19-year-old, who complained about the time the Briton was taking to serve by aborting his ball toss.
After being distracted, Rune won one more game as Norrie maintained focus.
Seventh seed Norrie, 27, will next play Russian ninth seed Andrey Rublev at Flushing Meadows
“It is nice to be through in straight sets and not really playing my best tennis leading in to it,” said Norrie, who has not dropped a set this week.
“I felt I definitely improved from my previous matches and I managed to stay way calmer than he was in the bigger moments.
“I don’t know what was going on with him.”
Norrie is the first Briton to reach the last 16 in New York this year, with Dan Evans hoping to join him later on Saturday.
British number two Evans, seeded 20th, plays Croatia’s 2014 champion Marin Cilic.
The pair are the only British singles players left in the New York tournament, following third-round defeats for Andy Murray and Jack Draper on Friday, along with earlier exits for Emma Raducanu and Harriet Dart in the women’s draw.
Norrie stays tough amid Rune drama
Norrie made his Grand Slam breakthrough with a memorable run to the Wimbledon semi-finals in July and, after another straight-set victory in New York, is quietly working his way through the US Open draw.
The 27-year-old left-hander, who was still ranked 74th in the world at the start of 2021, had never progressed past the third round at a major before his performance at the All England Club.
“Ticking that box to make the second week for the first time was huge for me. It was a big goal of mine to play well at Slams and play deep in Slams and to have these match-ups,” he said.
“I think it does help going into the tournament, being ranked where I am, being seeded where I am.”
Calm assurance on the court is one of Norrie’s key strengths and this was another example of him locking in to get the job done without any fuss.
Rune, who is already earning a reputation for creating drama, began to get tetchy towards the end of the second set as his frustrations at the match slipping away from him grew.
After spurning a break point as Norrie tried to serve out the second set at 5-4, Rune became agitated by the Briton stopping during his ball toss.
He remonstrated with umpire Timo Janzen, claiming Norrie was doing it with “four, five, six” seconds left on the 25-second shot clock and suggesting there should be a code violation issued to his opponent.
Rune said it was a “bit of a distraction”, but did not think Norrie was doing it deliberately. Norrie later said he was not doing it on purpose.
“It is a bit annoying but I am not controlling the rules. I think you can do it a couple of times but 10-15 times is maybe too much,” said Rune.
Norrie ignored the issue and eventually served out for a two-set lead, before racing through the third in 29 minutes.
