Cam Norrie was knocked out of the Cincinnati Open following a straight-sets defeat to Roberto Bautista Agut on Sunday.
At times during the contest, the British No. 2 looked to be struggling in hot conditions and was eventually beaten 6-4, 6-3.
Norrie’s last outing came at the Canadian Open, where he was beaten by Aleksandar Vukic in the second round.
His US Open preparations continued on Sunday in Cincinnati, where he received a bye into the second round to come up against veteran Spaniard Bautista Agut in a rematch of their first-round clash at Wimbledon this summer, where Norrie emerged victorious.
Bautista Agut started brightly in the opening set, breaking Norrie’s serve in the fourth game and did well to hold his serve following some lengthy games.
Norrie was visibly drenched in sweat serving in the eighth game and changed his shirt prior to deuce, where he prevented Bautista Agut from snatching the set and eventually clinched his first break point in the following game.
However, in the 10th game he served a double fault, allowing the Spaniard to break and win the set.
During the second set, Norrie continued to look unwell but remained competitive as a brave performance saw him save four match points to clinch the eighth game, despite having served three double faults.
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Bautista Agut then took control in the following game and was able to serve out the match.
Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz overcame a tricky contest against world No. 56 Damir Dzumhur to win 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
Jasmine Paolini edged into the next round with a tight 7-6 (2), 7-6, (5) victory over Maria Sakkari and Coco Gauff also progressed after beating Xinyu Wang 6-3, 6-2.
