Cameron Norrie helped make British tennis history with his victory over Joao Sousa in the second round of the US Open.
Norrie, 27, 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 two players traded breaks early in the match, but Norrie took his opponent's serve again towards the end of the first set and then took full control with a single break in the third game of the second. From that point, with Sousa seemingly struggling with a shoulder injury, it looked plain sailing for Norrie.
However, the Wimbledon semi-finalist had to stave off a break point in the sixth game, of the third set, but kept his nerve in the tie-break to move into the last-32. He will now face Holger Rune on Saturday.
The Dane, seeded 28th in New York, was awarded a walkover into the third round when American John Isner withdrew with a fractured wrist. The 19-year-old was a quarter-finalist in this year's French Open.
In 2020, the South African born Norrie reached this same stage, which at the time represented his best ever performance in a Grand Slam. He was ultimately knocked out by Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
With Murray and Draper having already won through on Wednesday, it was Dan Evans who kept Britain's momentum going prior to Norrie stepping on court. The British No 2, seeded 20th, won 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 against Australia's James Duckworth.
On Friday, 2012 champion Murray will take on Matteo Berrettini at the Arthur Ashe Stadium whilst Draper will face Karen Khachanov. Evans will take on 2014 winner Marin Cilic on Saturday.
