Jack Draper was aiming to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final for the first time in his careerVenue: Flushing Meadows, New York Dates: 28 August-10 SeptemberCoverage: Daily live text and radio commentaries across the BBC Sport website, app, BBC Radio 5 Live and 5 Sports ExtraBritain's Jack Draper had his bid for a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final ended by Russian eighth seed Andrey Rublev in the US Open fourth round.
Draper, 21, pushed Rublev hard in a physical encounter in a humid New York, but faded to lose 6-3 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Nevertheless, Draper will look back with pride on the way he was able to put recent injury issues behind him.
Draper, who was a doubt for the event with a shoulder injury, was the last Briton remaining in the singles.
Reaching the last 16 was the best run of Draper's fledging career at a major tournament and provides further encouragement going into next season.
Draper, who reached a career-high 38th at the start of this year, will return to the cusp of the world's top 100.
His ranking plummeted after missing almost three months of the season - including Wimbledon - with a shoulder injury.
Rublev, 25, goes on to face either compatriot Daniil Medvedev, who is seeded third, or Australian 13th seed Alex de Minaur.
Encouragement for Draper as learning curve continues
Once the pain of a Grand Slam exit settles, Draper will reflect on a week which showcased the huge talent he possesses.
Counting a big serve and hefty forehand as his biggest weapons, the left-hander's ability has never been in doubt.
Keeping fit has been his biggest problem, arriving at the US Open with what he described as a "70-30 chance" of playing after another shoulder injury.
The injury, sustained at the Winston-Salem Open last month, was separate to the one that had kept him out for the previous three months.
But he showed resilience in New York to come through his first three matches and he battled hard in testing conditions against the seemingly-tireless Rublev.
Having only played two matches on the ATP Tour since tearing a shoulder muscle at the French Open in May, it was perhaps unsurprising he faded physically after falling two-sets-to-one down.
Draper's second serve came under increasing pressure and his service speed dropped as he was broken in the fifth game of the fourth set.
The result looked close to a formality at that point but the British number four continued to fight as hard as his body would allow him.
His weariness showed in a double fault which brought up a match point, though Rublev was unable to take the opportunity, missing another return on a second as Draper managed to hold.
That asked the question of Rublev to serve out and, after letting a third match point slip when he watched a return clip the line, took his fourth with a cross-court forehand winner.
The enormous roar Rublev let out when he finally clinched victory indicated the stress he had been put under by the Briton.
"From the first point I was feeling the ball really well and I thought Jack was playing well," said Rublev, who has reached his fourth US Open quarter-final.
"But I was able to break him and I kept thinking that even if I was losing I would make the match physical because Jack is coming back from injury.
"You could see in the fourth set he was tired and not able to play the same way.
"I was able to add extra speed and finish the match."
