Cameron Norrie and Dan Evans joined Andy Murray and Jack Draper in the third round of the US Open with superb wins on Thursday to make more history for British tennis.
Of the quartet, British No 1 Norrie went into the tournament as the banker given his incredible consistency and top-eight seeding, and he has not disappointed.
After keeping a cool head against the wavering attention span of Benoit Paire in round one, Norrie proved too strong for Portugal’s Sousa in a more conventional contest, winning 6-4 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
“It’s great, we’re all feeding off each other and it’s good because we’ve got a great team leading into Davis Cup and we’re all in form, all playing well and enjoying our tennis,” Norrie told Prime Video.
“It’s really nice for us to show that all the hard work and all the work the LTA is doing and there’s plenty more guys just behind us as well.”
The only moment of concern came late in the third set, when Norrie was forced to save a set point at 5-6, but he kept his nose in front in the tie-break to move safely through.
The victory means the seventh seed, who next faces 19-year-old Dane Holger Rune, has already matched his best performance in New York with hopefully significantly more to come.
“Holger is very competitive and he’s kind of the next generation,” added Norrie. “I actually played him pretty recently in Cincinnati and we always have a battle so it’s going to be tough and definitely have to improve.”
Evans continued his excellent record at the US Open by beating James Duckworth to reach the third round for the fifth time.
Evans, the British No 2 has only once failed to make the last 32 when he has been in the main draw and progressed to the fourth round 12 months ago.
Dan Evans defeated James Duckworth to continue his excellent run in New York
Having lost only six games to Jiri Vesely in the first round, Evans looked set for another comfortable afternoon against Australian Duckworth when he eased into a two-set lead.
But Duckworth, ranked 83rd, took his first break point of the match in the ninth game of the third set and then had an early break in the fourth before Evans fought back to clinch a 6-3 6-2 4-6 6-4 victory.
The 20th seed did not hide his delight at the end, spreading his arms wide and running to the net after taking his first match point with a backhand pass threaded down the line.
Evans will now take on former champion Marin Cilic for a place in the last 16 after the Croatian made light work of Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas, winning 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to advance.
Evans said: “It was getting difficult. I was in control and then I thought he played very well to get back in.
“I was just happy to get off, really. It was nice to win that match to get to the third round. It’s a match I’m on paper supposed to win. It was my goal to get to where I needed to get to in the seeding spots, do my job, and then go from there.”
Evans had a lot of support, including from Tim Henman, who was watching courtside.
The pair have very similar game styles, and Evans said: “I speak to him quite often. He’s obviously a reassuring figure to have by the side of the court. He’s close probably to getting me a coaching fine pretty quickly.”
Another historic moment will come after the tournament when Draper will join Norrie, Evans and Murray in making it the first time since the formalisation of the rankings in 1973 that there are four British men in the top 50.
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