Cameron Norrie denied using gamesmanship during his third-round win over Holger Rune at the US Open.
The British number one is continuing to live up to his top-10 ranking and kept 19-year-old Rune at arm’s length during a 7-5 6-4 6-1 victory at Flushing Meadows to reach the fourth round for the first time.
Rune, already the highest-ranked Danish man in history and a French Open quarter-finalist this year, has a reputation as a spiky character and during the second set he protested to the umpire about Norrie catching his ball toss before serving.
Players are allowed 25 seconds between points but the clock stops when the server throws up the ball, meaning catching the toss buys extra time to reset.
Rune implied to the umpire he thought Norrie was deliberately exploiting a loophole in the rules, although he was more diplomatic in the press room later.
“I think it’s a fine balance,” said the teenager. “You have those 25 seconds and the umpire accepts that if you’re at one second and you do it you can let it go and take five, 10 seconds to bounce it again and then serve, and then you all of a sudden have 10 seconds.
“It’s a bit annoying. I’m not controlling the rules but I think you can do it a couple of times but doing it 10, 15 times is maybe too much.”
Responding, Norrie said: “I’m not doing it on purpose. I’d love to go out there and have a perfect ball toss every time and get up there and hit rockets. It can happen sometimes. I’d rather play quick. I like to play quick.”
Norrie, whose run to the Wimbledon semi-finals was the first time he had gone beyond the third round at a slam, opened up a 5-3 lead in the first set but hit a wild double fault and then shanked a smash to drop serve, only for Rune to play a similarly poor game and give him a second chance.
The British number one looked to have taken control of the second set at 4-1 but Rune was able to apply some late pressure again after feeling dizzy and consulting the doctor, forcing Norrie to save two break points at 5-4.
The pair had met twice before, with both matches going to a deciding set, but here Rune could offer no real resistance in the third as Norrie eased to victory.
The seventh seed, who admitted he battled through nerves in his second-round win over Joao Sousa, said: “I thought I played a bit better than I did in the previous match, so that was great. I felt way more comfortable. It was nice to be on Grandstand.
“It was tough playing against Holger. He can come out and play very aggressive and can come forward very well. He’s extremely talented, and he’s a young up-and-coming player, but it was nice to get through in straight.
“I think it’s great with the seeding. You can work your way more into the tournament than going out there, having to play a top seed early on. I’ve still got a lot of things I would like to improve, and I’ve got tomorrow to do that.”
Kvitova saves match points before beating Mugurza
Petra Kvitova took inspiration from Serena Williams as she saved match points to defeat Garbine Mugurza and reach the fourth round of the US Open.
A tense clash between the two former grand slam champions saw Kvitova save two match points to force a deciding tie-break before eventually taking her fourth match point in a 5-7 6-3 7-6 (10) victory.
Kvitova watched Williams’ emotional final match against Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday evening, when she battled to the end, finding winners on five match points.
“I saw those match points when she didn’t give up,” said the Czech, who was in tears at the end. “She always hit a beautiful return. It was very special, she didn’t want to leave the court, for sure.
“That was the same case with me today. I didn’t want to go out of this tournament, so I was just there hanging somehow. She was playing aggressively, as well. Me too.
“So I was trying to go for it with these first serves or for aces. I think it was nice to see her yesterday fighting until the end.”
It was tough loss for Muguruza, who ended last season by winning the WTA Finals but has struggled all year.
She took encouragement, though, saying: “I have had some tough losses this year but definitely this one makes me feel like my fighting spirit was there, my tennis was there. I probably need some extra confidence playing on those match points.”
Kvitova next meets American eighth seed Jessica Pegula, who has become one the most reliable WTA players, while three-time finalist Victoria Azarenka is showing good form again in New York and eased to a 6-3 6-0 victory over Petra Martic.
Last year’s US Open was all about the rise of the teenagers in Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez, and Kvitova is pleased to see the 30-somethings holding their own this time.
“I’m very happy for me, for Vika (Azarenka), and this kind of age,” said the Czech. “I feel like it’s good because we are on the tour so many years, and I’m just happy that we could still manage it and face the young generation.”
