Cameron Norrie kept the British flag flying in the Wimbledon men’s draw by brushing aside Italian world number 73 Mattia Bellucci to reach round four.
Jack Draper’s surprise second-round loss on Thursday to former finalist Marin Cilic left Norrie as the last British man standing in SW19.
To the delight of the Court One crowd, the 2022 semi-finalist delivered, recovering from a slow start to win 7-6 (5) 6-4 6-3.
Norrie will taken on either Brazilian teenage sensation Joao Fonseca or Chilean qualifier Nicolas Jarry next, with two-time defending champion Carlos Alcaraz a potential quarter-final opponent.
The 29-year-old has dipped below the radar since his exploits of three years ago, plummeting from a career-high ranking of eighth to 61st – via a spell at 91st – and slipping below Draper and Jacob Fearnley in the British pecking order.
He gave a reminder of his talents by sweeping past 12th seed Frances Tiafoe in round two and this – on paper, at least – looked to be a more straightforward assignment.
Yet Norrie was on the backfoot in the early stages against a fellow left-hander who scalped Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas early this year and came out all guns blazing.
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Bellucci broke to love in the opening game and then fought back from 40-0 down to hold in game two, while his 16 first-set winners included an outrageous forehand around the side of the net off the Briton’s serve.
Norrie eventually broke to love to level at 4-4 before a stunning backhand helped settle a tense tie-break in his favour.
Bellucci took a set off Draper in the first round of this year’s French Open before fading.
Following his bright start, the 24-year-old looked set to suffer a similar fate after failing to hold at the start of the second set but he soon broke back from 40-0 down.
However, Norrie regained the initiative in game seven before sealing the set with an ace and then easing through the decider to progress in two hours and 28 minutes.
