Alex de Minaur has enjoyed a career-best season at Grand Slam level, advancing to the fourth round at both the Australian Open and Wimbledon for the first time.
But the 23-year-old Australian's quest to also reach that stage at the US Open has fallen just short, losing in the third round to in-form Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta.
Carreno Busta is a two-time US Open semifinalist and won his first ATP Masters 1000 title at Montreal last month, scoring three top-20 wins in an impressive run.
The world No.15's growing confidence proved impenetrable, recording a 6-1 6-1 3-6 7-6(5) victory against De Minaur at Flushing Meadows today.
Carreno Busta's relentless pressure and consistency had De Minaur on the back foot early in the three-hour encounter. He raced through the opening two sets, restricting the No.18-seeded Australian to just two games.
World No.20 De Minaur desperately tried to find a way into the match, stepping up his intensity to storm back and secure the third set.
In a tight fourth set, De Minaur then saved a match point on his serve in the 12th game to force a tiebreak.
De Minaur was attempting to recover from a two-sets-to-love deficit for the first time in his Grand Slam career - and with his building momentum, it started to look possible.
But Carreno Busta withstood the tenacious challenge from the Australian, calmly closing out victory in a tense fourth-set tiebreak.
The 31-year-old Spaniard produced his best under pressure, claiming his second match point with a tweener lob that forced an error from his opponent.
While De Minaur's aggressive play helped him extend the match to four sets, 51 unforced errors and 10 double faults ultimately proved costly.
He finishes the Grand Slam season with eight main draw wins - the most he has ever recorded in a single year.
Aussies in action - US Open
TODAY'S RESULTS
Men's singles, third round
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) d [WC] J.J. Wolf (USA) 6-4 6-2 6-3
[12] Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) d [18] Alex de Minaur (AUS) 6-1 6-1 3-6 7-6(5)
Women's singles, third round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) d Serena Williams (USA) 7-5 6-7(4) 6-1
> READ: Aussies shining in US Open doubles
COMING UP
Men's singles, fourth round
[23] Nick Kyrgios (AUS) v [1] Daniil Medvedev
Women's singles, fourth round
Ajla Tomljanovic (AUS) v Liudmila Samsonova
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