BRITAIN’S singles hopes at the US Open were crushed on Friday night as Cameron Norrie followed Emma Raducanu out of Flushing Meadows.
Norrie, 30, was beaten 6-4 6-7 6-2 6-3 by Novak Djokovic under the lights on the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Serbian maestro, 38, clutched his back during the contest and required an off court medical timeout after just nine games.
Djokovic shrugged off injury concerns to take the match in four sets, before admitting on court: “You have some ups and downs.
“You don’t want to reveal too much to the rivals listening and watching this interview.
“I’m good, man. I’m as young as ever, as strong as ever. Yes. It’s New York. Even if you’re feeling something body-wise, the energy that you’re feeling in this court just overrides it.”
Downbeat Norrie, meanwhile, told the BBC: “I started great in the third set but [was] maybe a little overconfident after breaking.
“He settled into the match after that, competed well and was just too good in the end.”
Djokovic joined the ESPN set after outclassing former British No1 Norrie in two hours and 49 minutes.
Speaking more candidly about his fitness worries, the 24-time Grand Slam champion said: “Well, honestly I am concerned. You know, nowadays, more concerned than I have ever been.
“Even though I really am meticulous with the care for my body and I put in a lot of hours on and off the court to make sure that my body is fit and recovered well.
“But you know, age is. You can’t fight it. So things are different. I have to obviously adjust myself the way I approach things training.
“Sometimes I don’t train between matches because with my team when I have this discussion, we think that long term is better and that recovery is more important than hitting some balls in the court.
“So maybe that’s going to be the case tomorrow. We have to still discuss that and just focus on recovery and get ready for next one.”
Norrie had been the last Brit standing in the men’s singles event, following Jack Draper’s withdrawal ahead of the second round, as well as Jacob Fearnley’s round two defeat to Alexander Zverev and Billy Harris’ round one exit at the hands of Felix Auger-Aliassime.
This was the second time this year that Norrie had been dumped out of a Grand Slam by Djokovic, having also been handily beaten by the Serb at Roland Garros.
RADUCANU OUT
Earlier in the day, former US Open champion Raducanu was defeated 6-1 6-2 by ex-Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina.
The rampant Kazakh barely gave the British star a look in, producing 23 winners in just 15 games during a dominant display on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
After the match, Raducanu claimed: “When the very top play against me, they have a point to prove that they’re at the top and they’re there for a reason.
“I think every time I’ve played one, they’ve kind of shown that.
“At the same time while I’m improving, doing better, gaining maybe some more respect around, yeah the top have definitely raised their game.
“But I’ll take that as a compliment that they’ve decided to really lock in against me. At the same time it does show I have a lot more work to do.”
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