US Open 2025: Cam Norrie overcomes tough challenge against Francisco Comesana to reach third round
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Cam Norrie fought through a testing second round battle against Francisco Comesana to reach the third round of the men’s singles at the US Open.
It was a match full of ebbs and flows from both players, with 14 breaks of serve being shared across the battle, but it was the Brit who eventually came out on top - edging the Argentinian 7-6(5), 6-3, 6-7(0), 7-6(4) in four hours.
A more difficult challenge lies ahead for Norrie in the third round, with the British No.2 set to take on Novak Djokovic.
The pair have met on six occasions in the past with the Serbian winning all of their previous meetings, including their most recent battle in the fourth round at Roland Garros back in June.
It was a career-first meeting between the Norrie and Comesana, and they took their time to adapt to each other’s game - exchanging a couple of breaks before heading into an opening set tie-break.
There were few clear-cut chances for either player, but it was Comesana who blinked first – launching a forehand wide to hand Norrie a set point which he took at the first time of asking by firing home his 18th winner of the set.
The 2021 Indian Wells champion had the chance to stamp his authority early in the second set and he grabbed it with both hands. After letting three break points come and go in the second game, the 30-year-old sent a sensational forehand down the line to bring up a fourth which he successfully converted before taking the next four games in a row to establish a two-set advantage.
Comesana sparked alive in the third but despite serving for the set twice, he couldn’t get over the line as we marched into a tie-break. There, the world No.54 made no mistake – winning seven successive points to force a fourth and send alarm bells ringing for the Briton.
The world No.35 did well to re-set in the fourth and looked to be well on his way to victory as he stretched out to a 4-1, double break lead - but as we know, the momentum can shift quickly in tennis.
The 24-year-old Argentinian dialed up the aggression, and looked to approach the net where he had plenty of success - winning 72% of points (33/46) across the match - to win five of the next seven games.
However, it was Norrie who had the last say in the tie-break, clinching the decisive mini-break before finally seeing out a hard-fought victory with an ace as the clock struck four hours.
Norrie joins British No.1 Emma Raducanu in the third round of the US Open, who earlier dispatched qualifier Janice Tjen in an hour.
Last year’s semi-finalist Jack Draper earlier announced his withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. Jacob Fearnley will contest his second round match on Thursday night against third seed Alexander Zverev.
