CAM’S STILL IN THE HUNT
CAMERON NORRIE kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals with a crushing win over Federico Delbonis in the Rolex Masters first round.
The British No.1 lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Vienna last week having held match points.
But he began strongly in Paris yesterday by winning 6-2 6-1 against Argentina’s Delbonis.
It was Norrie’s 100th tour-level win, 49 of which have come in 2021 – a sequence of victories that have helped him jump to a career-high 13th in the world rankings.
Norrie, who is the 10th seed in Paris, said: “I know the score looked fairly comfortable but there were a lot of tough games. I felt I played a pretty complete match and really enjoyed my tennis again. It was far from easy but I was happy with my performance.”
Norrie occupies 11th position in the race to qualify for the eight-man, season-ending tournament in Turin later this month and could yet take one of the last two spots with a deep run here.
“It’s pretty cool just to be in the race and to be playing these matches with a little added pressure and a little added motivation,” said the left-hander.
“You’re kind of watching what everyone else is doing and I think it’s pretty interesting.
“It’s exactly where I want to be and the matches I want to be playing. To be in the question of that event at this stage of the year shows the improvements
I’ve had this year.”
Compatriot Dan Evans failed to join Norrie in the second round as he fell to a 2-6 7-5 7-5 defeat against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.
And a few hours later Andy Murray also bowed out of the tournament.
The three-times Grand Slam champion was beaten by lucky loser Dominik Koepfer after a marathon three-hour tussle.
Murray blew seven match points as he went down 6-4 5-7 7-6 to the German.