Norrie loses to Djokovic again as British singles interest ends

Cameron Norrie was playing on Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time in his career

Britains Cameron Norrie became the final British singles player to fall at the US Open as 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic battled through injury to reach the fourth round.

Norrie, 30, has now lost all seven of his meetings with the 38-year-old Serb following a 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-3 defeat in New York.

Djokovic, who is bidding for a standalone record 25th major title, struggled with a lower back injury in the opening set and needed a medical time-out off the court.

The four-time US Open champion asked for more treatment early in the second set.

It is his first tournament since losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals in July - almost eight weeks ago.

"Coming into the match, you want to win in straight sets without any drama - but thats not possible," a smiling Djokovic said in his on-court interview after the match.

"My team wants me to suffer on the court so I can spend more minutes there. Looking from that perspective it is good."

Before the match, British number two Norrie said he was "ready for anything" from seventh seed Djokovic - including seeing his opponent struggle with fitness issues before regaining his level.

However, the world number 35 was still not able to drag Djokovic into gruelling physical exchanges as he hoped.

Norrie briefly threatened to cause a shock when he moved a break up early in the third set.

But Djokovic instantly hit back - helped by his opponent hitting a double fault on break point - before regaining control with a precise serving game which Norrie largely failed to trouble.

Djokovic became the oldest man to reach US Open fourth round since Jimmy Connors, who was also aged 38, in 1991.

"Im still trying to find my groove. Today I played the best I have so far in the tournament," Djokovic added.

On his fitness, he added: "You have some ups and downs but you dont ant to reveal too much to your rivals. Im as young and as strong as ever."