MAJOR MURRAY!
ANDY’S BACK IN SLAM ACTION TODAY AND BRIT NORRIE KNOCKS OUT SEED
NOW THEY’RE RUNNING ON EMPTY IN NEW YORK
Britain’s Cam norrie had the distinction last night of playing and winning the first very long and very strange match of the 2020 Us Open.
there was no crowd and no atmosphere but plenty of heart on show as he saved two match points to take down no 9 seed Diego schwartzman of argentina 3-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1, 7-5 in a shade under four hours.
the British no 3 emerged victorious from an encounter that featured a whopping 58 break points in what may prove to be a precursor to plenty of tales of the unexpected at Flushing Meadows this year.
nobody knows who is going to be in what sort of shape in this tournament, but by the end of his victory it was clear norrie (below) has sufficient mileage in his legs.
Diminutive south american schwartzman was virtually out on his feet by the end and unravelled from 5-3 up in the fifth set just when it looked as though Putneybased lefthander norrie had blown his multitude of chances.
norrie saved one match point at 5-3 in the decider and another at 5-4 before sweeping to the win, with his oppon e n t so exhausted that he looked on the verge of severe cramp. the argentine could not even sit down at the final changeover before norrie managed to snatch the last and decisive break. For a men’s match to see more than half a century of break points is highly unusual. Former Us college star norrie converted 11 of his 31 while he ceded 27 to schwartzman before setting up a secondround contest against another argentine — Federico Coria. ‘i’m pretty tired actually,’ said norrie. ‘Honestly, for me, the tennis and the level wasn’t that great but i had a really good attitude throughout. i was happy with that. i was lucky to get through that one.’ He admitted that the number of break points was not particularly flattering.
‘i’m not sure if that’s a good stat to have. in the first couple of sets i missed so many second- serve returns on the advantage side when i had break points.
‘i was getting frustrated but i stayed patient and managed to convert way more at the end but 58 is a lot.
‘in the first two sets i was rushing everything, going for too much. i was making too many errors. He’d done almost nothing to be two sets up.’
indeed, the encounter was rarely pretty and this might be a taste of things to come, with so many players lacking in match action because the tour was suspended from early March until last week.
Players have had to make do and mend with various exhibition events around the world, and there is going to be a disparity in match fitness. the empty stands are another factor.
norrie probably owes Jamie Murray a debt due to the scottish player’s initiative when organising the ‘Battle of the Brits’ events at roehampton over the summer, which helped put him in excellent shape.
it was enough to give him what is comfortably the best Grand slam win of his career.
schwartzman let his head drop after being given a time violation in the third set, which followed norrie escaping one for an audible obscenity — easily heard amid the uncharacteristic quiet of what is normally the noisiest of the Majors.
Women’s top seed Karolina Pliskova made a successful start to her campaign when she overcame Ukraine’s anhelina Kalinina 6-4, 6-0.