Norrie gives final a Kiwi flavour
The ASB Classic will have a ‘Kiwi’ in the final after Aucklandraised Briton Cameron Norrie outlasted Jan-Lennard Struff in a riveting three-set battle.
Having come through a threehour epic late on Thursday night against Pablo Carreno Busta, Struff did well to force a decider after Norrie had taken the first set in Auckland yesterday.
But when the 23-year-old upped the ante early in the third, the German could not respond as Norrie clinched a 7-5 4-6 6-3 win.
Norrie will meet Tennys Sandgren in his first ATP Tour final after the American world No 63 eased past Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-4 6-2.
Norrie was born in South Africa but grew up in New Zealand, playing his entire junior career under the Kiwi flag. But while he switched allegiances to Britain in 2013, there is no doubt who the home crowd will be cheering for today.
The clash against Struff was a battle between two of the Classic’s stronger servers. Norrie had not lost a serve all week on the way to his fourth career semifinal, while Struff entered the match with a tournament-best 34 aces.
Both had their opportunities to take the upper hand in the first set.
Norrie forced two break point chances in the sixth game before Struff responded with one of his own, but neither could capitalise.
Then with Norrie up 6-5, Struff finally cracked. The Brit jumped ahead after pouncing on a couple of second serves before a mishit form Struff handed him the set.
The breaks continued in the second as Struff immediately put
the setback behind him to take the first game of the set.
There were times when the 28-year-old appeared to be fading, particularly after Norrie broke in the fourth game to get the set back on serve.
But he found his second wind, breaking again after a scintillating rally, which ended with
Norrie sending his forehand long, before serving out the set.
Norrie was not about to roll over, though. He broke Struff in his first service, jumped to a 3-0 lead and was solid on serve to close the match.
Earlier, Sandgren advanced to the final after overpowering Kohlschreiber in straight sets.