Cameron Norrie out of US Open after straight-sets defeat to Andrey Rublev

Over the course of his glistening summer, Cameron Norrie’s steady, gradual improvements have taken him to heights most never thought possible. As he established himself as a Wimbledon semi-finalist, an undeniable top-10 player and an opponent who will grind you to dust and relish every moment of it, one of his greatest qualities has been the consistently high base level of his game. He has played few poor matches and he rarely takes bad losses.

In his first appearance in the fourth round of the US Open against one of the best players in the world, though, Norrie threw in a rare poor performance and was punished for it. Norrie fell routinely, with only a brief, angry surge at the close, losing 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to Andrey Rublev.

It could not have been a tighter matchup on paper, the seventh seed versus the ninth. They had taken contrasting paths to the fourth round. While Norrie hadn’t lost a set, Rublev survived a five-set first-round tussle against Laslo Djere, then he played a brilliant match against Denis Shapovalov, edging out the Canadian in a fifth-set match tiebreak.

Such a workload could have depleted Rublev’s energy levels heading into the second week, but instead it sharpened his game after a difficult summer. He arrived inside a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium locked in.

In the opening stages, both were solid on serve and no break points were generated in the first seven games. But at 4-4, Norrie missed a series of routine backhands, allowing Rublev the first and decisive break of the set.

As the match continued, Norrie became progressively flat. He had naturally hoped to drag Rublev into long, physical rallies and eke unforced errors from Rublev’s unrelenting aggression, yet it was Norrie who pulled out of their