Norrie, Evans wins set British record at US Open

Tennis

Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans secured wins at the US Open on Thursday, meaning that four British men will compete in the round of 32 in New York for the first time.

British No. 1 Norrie was barely troubled in a convincing 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(4) win over unseeded Portuguese player Joao Sousa.

Meanwhile, Evans, who is seeded 20th at the Grand Slam, defeated Australia’s James Duckworth 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in four sets.

On Wednesday, Andy Murray and Jack Draper won their second-round matches to ensure their places in the last 32.

Murray, who won his maiden major crown in New York a decade ago, reached the third round of a Grand Slam for only the second time in five years.

It is the first time that the 35-year-old, who plays Italian 13th seed Matteo Berrettini next, has reached the round of 32 at the US Open since 2016.

Seventh seed Norrie, who reached semifinals at Wimbledon in July, matched his career-best run at the US Open with his victory over Sousa.

“I think it’s very cool to have four of us through and especially all of us supporting each other. It’s great,” Norrie said.

“We’re all feeding off each other and it’s good because we’ve got a great team leading into Davis Cup and we’re all in form, all playing well and enjoying our tennis.”

“I don’t see why we can’t keep going.”

Norrie will face Denmark’s 19-year-old Holger Rune in the third round, who was given a walkover after John Isner withdrew because of a fractured wrist.

Evans, who reached the fourth round at the US Open in 2021, will face former champion Marin Cilic, who made light work of Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, winning 6-3, 7-6(4), 6-3 to advance.

The victories mark only the second time in the Open era that four British men have progressed to the third round at a Grand Slam, and the first time at the US Open, following Tim Henman, Greg Rusedski, Mark Petchey and Andrew Richardson’s progress to the Wimbledon third round in 1997.

Information from Reuters contributed to the report.

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