Andy Murray's US Open campaign came to an end in the second round as the 2012 champion went down in straight sets to Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Thursday.
The 36-year-old - who overcame Corentin Moutet in the opening stage - was bested 3-6 4-6 1-6 in two hours and 46 minutes by Dimitrov at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Murray has now been dumped out in the second round in four of his last six appearances at major tournaments, the two exceptions being third-round exits at the 2022 US Open and this year's Australian Open.
Dimitrov also joined an elite crowd of players to have defeated Murray at both Wimbledon and the US Open, following in the footsteps of Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Murray managed to bring up nine break points against his Bulgarian counterpart, but he only managed to convert two of them, and Dimitrov's tally of 32 winners was twice that of the three-time major winner.
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Despite fighting back from a break down in the final set, a jaded Murray signalled to his team that his race was run, and a ruthless Dimitrov won the next five games on the bounce to set up a third-round affair with Alexander Zverev.
Murray was one of a six-strong British contingent to return for the second round on Thursday, and there was a notable victory for Draper, who beat 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-2 6-4 7-5.
A whopping 49 unforced errors from the Pole proved fatal, and Draper - who has been hampered by injuries in 2023 - also capitalised on physical issues for his opponent to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for just the second time.
American Michael Mmoh is next up for Draper after the 25-year-old brought John Isner's career to a close in extraordinary circumstances, saving a match point and winning 3-6 4-6 7-6[3] 6-4 7-6 [7] with just under four hours on the clock.
Later in the day, Cameron Norrie reached the third round for the second year running thanks to a 7-5 6-4 6-4 victory over Hsu Yu-hsiou, and the British number one will take on the unseeded Matteo Arnaldi in round three.
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Dan Evans, meanwhile, recovered from a disastrous first set against Botic van de Zandschulp to triumph 1-6 6-1 6-3 6-3, and his reward will be a showdown with reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, who saw off Lloyd Harris 6-3 6-1 7-6[4].
Katie Boulter also reached the third round at Flushing Meadows for the first time by coming from a set down to defeat Wang Yafan, prevailing 5-7 6-1 6-4, and she will meet Peyton Stearns for a spot in round four.
However, Jodie Burrage could not pull off a giant killing at the Louis Armstrong Stadium, suffering a 3-6 2-6 defeat to second seed Aryna Salabenka, who quadrupled the Briton's winners tally with 28 compared to Burrage's seven.
Elsewhere on day four, Jannik Sinner strolled past compatriot Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-2 6-4, but fellow Italian Matteo Berrettini retired injured against Arthur Rinderknech with the Frenchman 6-4 5-3 to the good.
Daniil Medvedev, Marketa Vondrousova, Andrey Rublev, Jessica Pegula, Ons Jabeur and Elina Svitolina also advanced to the third round on day four.
Ben Knapton
