Kyle Edmund left flying the British flag alone as Cameron Norrie and Aljaz Bedene exit US Open second round

British No 2 through third round but remains the only Briton left in singles competition

Kyle Edmund beat Steve Johnson for the second time in the space of five days to reach the second round (Getty)

And then there was one. Three British singles players were still in the US Open at the start of play here on the third day, but by the end of a marathon programme of matches – courtesy of the previous day’s rain-battered schedule – Kyle Edmund was left holding the flag on his own.

After Cameron Norrie and Aljaz Bedene had lost to Pablo Carreno Busta and Andrey Rublev respectively, Edmund maintained his fine form of the last few weeks to beat Steve Johnson 7-5, 6-2, 7-6.

“It’s just a shame that a few of us have lost early and obviously Andy was injured,” Edmund said afterwards. “But I guess in another way it’s good that there’s some more depth in British tennis that we’re able to have other people go further.”

Edmund had got the better of Johnson five days earlier in the quarter-finals of the Winston-Salem Open and gave another polished display here. The 27-year-old American, ranked four places lower than Edmund at No 46 in the world, has a powerful game not dissimilar to the 22-year-old Briton’s but could not match his consistency.

Considering the presence of Johnson, it was surprising to see the temporary Louis Armstrong Stadium so sparsely populated, but Edmund seems to have little trouble coping with whatever is thrown at him here.

Johnson needed to serve well to have any chance but was broken three times in the opening set. The American snapped his racket in disgust with his foot after dropping his serve to trail 6-5, which gave Edmund the chance to serve out for the first set.

Edmund took the second set with plenty to spare after winning the first four games and held tight in the tie-break at the end of the third set, winning it 7-4.

“I had a dodgy stomach this morning but once I got out there I was good,” Edmund said afterwards. “Even though I got broken twice [in the first set] I still think I started pretty well. And I had a really good second set. So, overall, to win in straight sets against a player like Stevie, it was a good result – especially to get to the tie-break and not let it go to a fourth.”

I really feel I can be aggressive on these courts, and I get rewarded

&#13; <p>Kyle Edmund</p>&#13;

Edmund has reached two semi-finals since Wimbledon and is now within one win of matching his performance on his debut here 12 months ago, when he reached the fourth round.

“The last two years I’ve definitely come here and picked up some good form and momentum,” Edmund said. “I really feel I can be aggressive on these courts, and I get rewarded – even in night conditions when the sun’s not out and it’s cool. I still feel you can get rewards from good shots. I just enjoy playing here. I enjoy the surrounds and the feel of it.”

Edmund will face Denis Shapovalov, one of the game’s most exciting young talents, in the third round on Friday. The 18-year-old Canadian produced one of the shocks of the tournament so far when he beat the No 8 seed, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 to reach the last 32 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.

Edmund will face Denis Shapovalov in the third round (Getty)

When Edmund met Shapovalov in the Davis Cup in Ottawa in February the Canadian was defaulted after hitting a ball in anger that struck the umpire in the face.

Norrie, who had recorded the first Grand Slam victory of his career by beating Dmitry Tursunov in the first round, found Carreno Busta a much tougher proposition. The 26-year-old Spaniard won 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 in just an hour and 43 minutes.

The match was played on Court 6, which is much smaller than Louis Armstrong Stadium but can have more distractions as the public tend to come and go as they please. The Briton admitted afterwards that he had taken time to get used to the conditions.

The top guys are willing to fight for every point and their concentration and focus is so good.  Today I lost a lot of focus

&#13; <p>Cameron Norrie</p>&#13;

Carreno Busta broke in the opening game and again in the seventh, at which point Norrie threw his racket to the floor in frustration. The Spaniard took the first set in just 26 minutes but faced a sterner test in the second and had to defend four break points in the fourth game. Norrie, however, hit a smash beyond the baseline when facing a break point at 2-2. It was the only break Carreno Busta needed to claim the second set.

Norrie finally broke serve for the only time when he converted his seventh break point of the match in the second game of the third set. By that stage, however, his opponent had had six break points and taken three of them, demonstrating how playing the big points is such a big factor in any match.

The Spaniard, moreover, broke back immediately and again to lead 4-3. Norrie dropped his serve for the sixth and final time when he served to stay in the match at 3-5, double-faulting on the last point.

Norrie suffered a 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 defeat by Pablo Carreno Busta (Getty)

“I was a little bit disappointed with how I started on that court,” Norrie said afterwards. “It was pretty loud and it was an awkward time of day. The lights were on but it was still light. I lost a little bit of focus early on.”

He added: “The top guys are willing to fight for every point and their concentration and focus is so good. Today I lost a lot of focus. I found it tough to concentrate on what I was doing well. The focus of the top guys is so solid.”

Norrie thought he could have served and returned better but enjoyed his first taste of the US Open. “I think I belong here and I can play at this level,” he said. “I guess I can take confidence from that and I can compete with these top guys.”

Norrie said he would be heading back to his university base in Texas before playing some Challenger tournaments, the first of them at Cary in South Carolina. “I played there last year and there were three or four people there,” he smiled. “A bit different [to here].”

&#13; Andrey Rublev defeated Bedene 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 in a quick-fire defeat &#13; (Getty)

Bedene had won only one match in his three previous appearances here and was soon in trouble against Rublev, who at 19 is regarded as one of the game’s outstanding talents.

Rublev, who had to defend only one break point in the whole match, took the first set in just 28 minutes and completed his 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 victory an hour and a quarter later as Bedene struggled to cope with a knee problem which has troubled him since Wimbledon. The Russian now meets Grigor Dimitrov, the world No 9.