Cameron Norrie win makes it four British men in US Open third round

Norrie joined Andy Murray, Jack Draper and Dan Evans in round three, making it the first time four British men have gone this far in New York since the start of the professional tennis era in the 1960s.

It is also only the second time in the open era that four British men have reached the third round at any grand slam after Wimbledon 25 years ago.

Of the quartet, Norrie went into the tournament as the banker given his incredible consistency and top eight seeding, and he has not disappointed.

After keeping a cool head against the wavering attention span of Benoit Paire in round one, Norrie proved too strong for Portugal’s Sousa in a more conventional contest, winning 6-4 6-4 7-6 (4).

The only moment of concern came late in the third set, when Norrie was forced to save a set point at 5-6, but he kept his nose in front in the tie-break to move safely through.

The victory means the seventh seed, who next faces young Dane Holger Rune, has already matched his best performance in New York with hopefully significantly more to come.

He said: “I thought I didn’t start that well. I was pretty nervous in the match, pretty tight. I managed to play good in the big points throughout the whole match. Felt like at the end of the sets I really raised my level.

“But, for whatever reason, I was just nervous, pretty slow with my feet the beginning of the sets. But happy to be through.”