Cameron Norrie's run at the 2023 Madrid Open came to an end in the third round with a pulsating three-set defeat to Zhang Zhizhen on Monday night.
The world number 99 took two hours and eight minutes to record a 2-6 7-6[2] 7-6[2] victory and become the first-ever Chinese man to reach the fourth round of a Masters tournament.
Following a cagey start to the match, Norrie found his groove with a four-game winning streak to take the first set with aplomb, but he wasted five break points in the second set as Zhizhen levelled in the tie-breaker.
A lightning quick third set saw both men power through their service games without ceding a single break point, but as more errors began to creep in on Norrie's side, the Briton was made to pay.
After painfully sending a number of shots a couple of inches beyond the baseline, Norrie ceded four match points to Zhizhen, who took his first as the Wimbledon semi-finalist shanked a forehand wide.
Twenty-six-year-old Zhizhen has been rewarded with a last-16 battle with the USA's Taylor Fritz, while Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed with victories over Alexander Shevchenko and Sebastian Baez respectively.
Elsewhere, Mirra Andreeva's dream run in the women's singles tournament was brought to an end by Aryna Sabalenka, who recorded a 6-3 6-1 win over the 16-year-old Russian.
Ben Knapton
