British No 2 Norrie falls at first hurdle in Barcelona

Cameron Norrie was comfortably beaten by Spain’s Albert Ramos-vinolas in the opening round of the Barcelona Open.

The British No 2 jumped 11 places in the rankings to a career-high 45 on Monday after reaching the third round at the Monte-carlo Masters last week and looks to have a natural aptitude for clay.

But he is still a relative rookie on the surface and that was exploited by Ramos-vinolas, who eased to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in less than an hour.

Meanwhile, world No 2 Simona Halep has withdrawn from the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a left hip injury.

The second seed suffered the injury during her gruelling win over Caroline Garcia in Romania’s Fed Cup semi-final defeat by France 0 Cameron Norrie: Defeated by Albert Ramos-vinolas.

on Sunday but is optimistic she will be fit for next month’s tournaments in Madrid and Rome leading up to the French Open.

Halep said on wtatennis. com: “It happened against Garcia in the first set, when I fell down. I felt pain in the hip. If I’m not 100 per cent, I don’t want to step on the court. I’m also exhausted mentally because I gave my everything in that tie.

“I’vebeenverysadforthelast two days. I’ve been through these moments many times, but I just need to relax and recover.”