Cameron Norrie battled past Francisco Comesana to set up a rematch with Novak Djokovic in the third round of the US Open.
After Jack Draper’s withdrawal from the tournament through injury dealt a major blow to British hopes of a deep run, Norrie ensured there will be at least one man in the last 32 by claiming a 7-6 (5) 6-3 6-7 (0) 7-6 (4) victory.
It set up a second grand slam meeting this year against Djokovic for Norrie, with the Serbian winning in straight sets in the fourth round of the French Open.
Norrie has won just two sets against Djokovic in six previous matches but the 24-time slam champion has looked well below his best here so far.
Norrie profited from the retirement of first-round opponent Sebastian Korda after only two sets because of injury but he had been playing at a high level and would have been confident of beating Comesana.
From two sets up it turned into a real dogfight, though, and Norrie had to save three set points in the fourth before winning the crucial tie-break after four hours.
Argentinian Comesana is at a career-high ranking of 54 and upset 28th seed Alex Michelsen in the first round, while he was cheered on by a vocal section of South American support.
It was the 24-year-old who broke serve first in the third game after a lengthy video review to decide whether he had got to a short ball in time.
But Norrie recovered the deficit quickly and seized his chance in the tie-break, sending a forehand winner fizzing onto the line.
He won the key points in the second set as well, but the match became complicated in the third, with Comesana twice failing to serve it out only to win seven points in a row in the tie-break.
That delighted his cheer squad, who were in even better voice when Norrie tightened up and let a double break lead slip in the fourth set.
A decider looked on the cards when Comesana created three chances at 6-5 only for Norrie to save all of them before finally clinching victory with an ace.
Djokovic, meanwhile, admitted after a four-set win over Learner Tien in round one that he had not felt good physically and he again looked distinctly uncomfortable in the first set of his clash with qualifier Zachary Svajda.
The American won that on a tie-break to forge an unlikely lead on Arthur Ashe Stadium but Djokovic fought back to claim a 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory.
“I didn’t feel that great to be honest,” said the 38-year-old. “I wasn’t happy with my tennis for the first part of the match, but also credit to Zach for playing some really high-quality tennis.
“It was unfortunate that he struggled with injury towards the end of the second set, but kudos to him for staying on the court. It was obvious he couldn’t serve as well as he did for a set-and-a-half.”
PA
