Norrie continues hot form in Austria
CAMERON NORRIE continued his winning streak as he opened his Erste Bank Open campaign with victory over Marton Fucsovics.
The British No.1 was playing his first match since his breakthrough triumph at Indian Wells 10 days ago and came out on top against the Hungarian for his seventh victory in a row.
It was also his 11th from the last 12 matches as he continues to enjoy the form of his life, overcoming a difficult start to win 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in Vienna.
The world No.14 will play sixth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in the next round, after he beat Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis 6-3, 6-2.
Norrie’s landmark win in the Californian desert had significantly bolstered his standing in the game, but it looked like he might be brought back down to earth as Fucsovics started well.
Along with some power hitting, Norrie’s radar was off and a string of errors allowed Fucsovics to open up a 3-0 lead.
Norrie began to find his level, though, and from 4-2 down reeled off four successive games to allow him to serve for the first set.
Fucsovics broke back to love and the opener had to be settled by a tie-break, which Norrie got the better of, sealing it after his opponent dragged a forehand wide.
Fucsovics’ spirit was broken and Norrie doubled down on his superiority, racing into a 5-0 lead in the second set.
Fucsovics finally got on the board but Norrie saw it out to join fellow Briton Andy Murray in the last 16.
Top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame Grigor Dimitrov in two tough sets to join them.
Greek world No.3 Tsitsipas came through 7-6 (8-6), 6-4, in one hour and 42 minutes and was forced to save three set points in the opening-set tiebreak.
“Grigor is a tough competitor and the level of tennis was really high today. We both competed at our highest [level],” Tsitsipas said in his post-match interview.
“That was great tennis that was being played during the entire match and I got really close to my [best] offence and showed incredible attitude [in] the last game, which was the one that was the most crucial of the match.”
Tsitsipas will play Frances Tiafoe for a place in the quarterfinals after the American beat Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic 6-4, 6-4,
Second seed Alexander Zverev overcame Filip Krajinovic 6-2, 7-5, to set up a secondround clash with Australia’s Alex de Minaur, who beat South African Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.
“He was playing well as well, so I knew that I [was] going to get a chance,” Zverev said in his post-match interview. “I just needed to start playing a little bit better and that’s what I did. I’m happy to be through in two sets.”
Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud defeated South Africa’s Lloyd Harris 7-5, 7-6 (7-2).