Happy Norrie cruises into last eight in Lyon

BRITISH men’s No.1 Cameron Norrie booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon with a straight-sets victory over Francisco Cerundolo.

World No.11 Norrie, the tournament’s top seed, was given a bye into the second round but wasted little time in progressing 6-4, 6-4, against Argentina’s Cerundolo. Norrie will next face Sebastian Baez, the seventh seed, who beat Belgian Oscar Otte in three sets.

Having reached the final of the ATP 250 event last year, Norrie is focused on further progress.

“It is so nice to be here in Lyon. In the park it is pretty relaxed and perfect preparation before Roland Garros,” Norrie said. “I am really happy with the way I managed myself. It was not easy, Francisco is a great player, especially on the clay.

“Sebastian [Baez] has had a really great year so far and he really likes the clay, winning a title already, so it is going to be another great match for me.”

British women’s No.2 Heather Watson lost her second-round match at the WTA Strasbourg event against Polish eighth seed Magda Linette 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, British trio Liam Broady, Paul Jubb and Yuriko Miyazaki all claimed victories in the first round of qualifying at the French Open.

Jubb made a winning debut in his first Grand Slam qualifier, edging a tight contest against American Christopher Eubanks 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-4), at Roland Garros.

Miyazaki, known as Lily, switched allegiance from Japan to Britain in March having lived in London since the age of 10 and also claimed her first slam victory, beating 26th seed Ylena In-Albon 6-3, 6-3.

Broady, a veteran of such stages, saw off Argentinian Renzo Olivo 6-0, 4-6, 6-0, in one of the three victories needed to reach the main draw.

There was disappointment, though, for Katie Swan and another Parisian debutant, Ryan Peniston, who both went out at the first hurdle.

Peniston lost 6-2, 6-2, to Andrey Kuznetsov while Swan was beaten 6-3, 6-2, by 10th seed Viktoriya Tomova.