Cameron Norrie’s wait for a first appearance in the last 16 of a Grand Slam goes on, becoming the final British singles player to fall at the French Open.
| Dates: 22 May-5 June Venue: Roland Garros, Paris |
| Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app |
British men’s number one Norrie was below his best as he lost 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-4 to 21st seed Karen Khachanov.
Norrie, seeded 10th, paid the price for taking just one of 14 break points in the opening two sets.
The 26-year-old has lost in the third round at four of the past five majors.
Going deep at a Grand Slam has been one of the left-hander’s major targets and he has not yet been able to achieve it, despite his rapid rise up the ATP rankings over the past two seasons.
Being pitched against two of the sport’s all-time greats at the third-round stage on three occasions last year did not help his cause.
Spain’s Rafael Nadal outclassed Norrie with straight-set wins in both Melbourne and Paris, while Switzerland’s Roger Federer had too much nous for the Briton at Wimbledon.
This time, his luck in the draw was much better. Yet he still faced a dangerous opponent in Khachanov.
The 26-year-old Russian, not allowed to compete under his nation’s flag because of the invasion of Ukraine, has been as high as eighth in the world rankings and possesses a powerful game which many struggle to deal with.
Norrie’s undoing, though, largely stemmed from a lot of unforced errors in the early games and the inability to convert the break points which he created.
While he put up a characteristic fight, which included saving three match points, Norrie eventually lost a battle which lasted three hours and 37 minutes and finished at 23:03 local time in Paris.
More to follow.