Cam Norrie crashed out of the French Open to Karen Khachanov to end British singles interest in the French Open – and extend his personal Grand Slam curse.
The British No.1 arrived in Paris in the claycourt form of his life after winning his first red-dirt title in Lyon last weekend.
But despite starting as favourite against world No.25 Khachenov, Norrie was outpowered 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-4 by the massive Russian.
The No.10 seed failed to take his first 11 break points – and converted only five out of 21. Khachanov broke the Norrie serve eight times in an ugly slugfest which ended at 11.03pm local time after three hours and 37 minutes.
The extravagant Russian tried to whip up the late-night crowd in Court Simonne-Mathieu after every winner while Norrie showed his frustration as he made 59 unforced errors. The world No.11 saved three match points at 2-5 in the fourth before Khachanov closed out the win with an ace.
The defeat means the British No.1 is still to go beyond the third round in a Major in 18 attempts.
Jo Konta is the last Brit to reach the second week in Paris when she made the semi-finals in 2019.
Heather Watson and Harriet Dart lost in the first round while Emma Raducanu and Dan Evans went out in the second round to players ranked below them.
