Sleepy Paire no match for Norrie
Auckland-raised Cameron Norrie saw off tired Frenchman Benoit Paire 6-3 6-2 at the ASB Classic yesterday.
Norrie, who plays for Britain, produced consistent tennis, served well and looked to mix up his play, while Paire was all over the place, even having a quick nap during the match.
Paire has always been known as a player whose motivation can swing wildly during a match and yesterday spent most of his time looking like he had plenty of things he’d prefer to be doing instead of playing tennis.
It was all fairly run of the mill stuff until Paire was broken when serving at 3-4.
He double faulted twice in the game and in other points looked even more casual.
Norrie struggled but managed to hold serve in the next game to win the set, with Paire bizarrely clapping Norrie as he walked to his chair. At one stage it looked as if Paire had fallen asleep at a change of ends.
Norrie broke again in the third game of the next set and that was pretty much it.
‘‘He came out and served really well, I was obviously a little bit nervous, the first time playing on that court and it was a bit windy too,’’ Norrie said.
‘‘But I tried to enjoy it. I fought off some break points at the start of the first set and then managed to play a good game to break.
‘‘I managed to out-tough him in the second and I freed up my forehand to be aggressive, to move the ball around the court, then I was quickly up to the drop shots he was playing, so a clean match I thought.’’
Norrie said he spotted how lackadaisical Paire was on court, Artem Sitak and Austin Krajicek won the almost all Kiwi doubles battle at the ASB Classic yesterday.
Sitak and his American partner beat New Zealand wildcard recipients George Stoupe and Ajeet Rai 6-3 6-2 on Centre Court, to get the men’s Classic under way.
but for him he had to ignore it and keep his intensity up.
‘‘I didn’t want to fall into the trap of taking him lightly, when he’s being casual. He’s still serving well and hitting some drop shots extremely well, so it’s tough to stay focused and he is playing quickly.’’
Before that match on Centre Court, Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber beat American qualifier Bradley Klahn 6-4 7-6 in a match that lasted an hour and a half.
‘‘The competition is high here and he came through qualifying, so maybe there is a little advantage
It was always going to be a tall order for Rai and Stoupe for get a win against their vastly more experienced opponents.
Rai, 19, has just completed his first year on the circuit, while Stoupe, two years his junior, was getting his first experience at this level.
for him,’’ Kohlschreiber said.
‘‘At the beginning of the year you try to find your rhythm in the matches and it was good.
‘‘ Most of the time I was in a good spot during the match, so I felt well and it was nice to play here.’’
In the other match on the Grandstand Court, the talented 21-year-old American, Taylor Fritz, who is ranked 50 in the world, had to battle hard to beat Marius Copil, of Romania, 4-6 6-3 6-4.
Fritz will now play American John Isner in the second round tomorrow. Bianca Andreescu will never forget her week in Auckland and those who’ve come to the ASB Classic the past week will remember her for a long time.
She may have lost to Julia Goerges 2-6 7-5 6-1 in the final on Sunday night, but the 18-year-old Canadian was the story of this year’s Classic.
The world No 152 came through qualifying, knocked out Caroline Wozniacki, Venus Williams and Hsieh Su-wei, and did it with a raw enthusiasm rarely seen at this level.
It did look like the ‘dream’ – as she always called it – would continue when she blasted Goerges off the court in the first set and also when she was up 5-4 in the second, but alas for her, that’s as close as she got to winning the title.
‘‘I dominated in the first set and even in the second, but at 5-4 she started going for her shots more and I guess I kind of held back,’’ Andreescu said.
‘‘I was trying not to focus on the end of the match, but obviously in my head I was like ‘oh my God, I’m one game away from winning’. So that shifted things.
‘‘It is disappointing, but I can’t complain. I played qualifying, I wasn’t supposed to make the finals of this tournament, so I’m really proud that mentally I was able to hang in there and physically.’’
The third set was one way traffic for Goerges. It was Andreescu’s eighth match in nine days and once Goerges got in front, it was as if Andreescu was then running on empty.
‘‘There was definitely less power in my shots,’’ she said.
‘‘Because of the fatigue and my back was a bit ishy, especially after the first set and the second set.
‘‘But I’m going to try my best to recover for qualifying of the Australian Open and hopefully I’ll be good.’’
It will be a big change to go from beating some of the biggest Julia Goerges shows off the winner’s rewards after beating Bianca Andree inset, in the ASB Classic women’s fin names in tennis and playing in a WTA final, to slogging it out on a deserted court in Melbourne from today in the Australian Open qualifying.
But that’s the challenge for Andreescu now. Was this week in