Norrie outlasts Murray, Auger-Aliassime also into last 16

The all-British showdown between Andy Murray and Cameron Norrie in round two of the Western & Southern Open did not disappoint on Wednesday afternoon. A typical baseline grind for Murray and Norrie needed two hours and 37 minutes to be completed, and in the end it was the left-hander who prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Murray had plenty of chances to take a lead in the third set, but the three-time Grand Slam champion could not convert and eventually ran out of gas. Cramp problems have been plaguing him throughout the American hard-court summer and they did the same in the final two games on Wednesday.

“I just needed to put a lot of balls in the court,” Norrie explained. “At the start of the match nothing was really working for me. I was not really being physical; I was not really executing how I liked.

“Credit to Andy, he came out and was using his slice a lot, coming forward well. He reads the game incredibly, so credit to him and it was not easy towards the end. I managed just to find a way.”

The world No. 11 is joined in the round of 16 by Andrey Rublev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, and John Isner. Rublev, the No. 6 seed, overcame Fabio Fognini 6-7(7), 7-6(3), 6-2. Auger-Aliassime, the No. 7 seed, raced past Alex de Minaur 6-3, 6-2. Hubert Hurkacz, the No. 8 seed, was upset by Isner 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-2.

After zero breaks of serve through two sets of the Isner-Hurkacz match, the 37-year-old American broke twice in the third–including at 5-2 to clinch victory.