Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie saved a match point and completed a dramatic comeback Thursday, upsetting third-seeded Alex de Minaur 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the third round of the National Bank Open in Montreal.
Australia’s de Minaur appeared firmly in control after taking the opening set and building a 5-2 advantage in the second. He held match point at 40-30 but double-faulted, allowing Norrie to begin working his way back into the match.
“The level was so high the first two sets,” Norrie said after the match. “From the beginning, (de Minaur) came out firing and I was like, ‘Woah, this is a crazy level,’ and I had to match it. I managed to go up a break (in the first set), but he stayed really tough and I know he’s so tough as a competitor and stole that first set.”
De Minaur received another opportunity to close out the match while serving at 5-4, but another double fault helped Norrie secure the break. The Briton went on to win the tiebreak and then dominated the deciding set, completing the victory in 2 hours, 52 minutes.
“He was looking good in the second set and I think he took the foot off the gas very slightly and I managed to free up, steal the tie-break and then it was just a battle,” Norrie said. “I was just trying to play point for point. No time to think. I just stayed point for point and I managed to win 6-1. It was a great match to win and to test my level, and I can take so much confidence from this one.”
Norrie converted seven of 10 break-point opportunities and won 11 of the final 13 games. The victory improved his career record against de Minaur to 4-3 and sent him into a fourth-round matchup with No. 18 seed Arthur Fils.
Fils advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Argentina’s Mariano Navone. The Frenchman did not face a break point and won 90.6% of the points played on his first serve.
Eighth-seeded Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic eliminated 27th-seeded Alexander Blockx of Belgium, 6-3, 6-4. Lehecka didn’t have to save a break point and had more winners, 23-17.
Spain’s Rafael Jodar, the event’s 20th seed, moved on with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 11th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti of Italy, and 28th-seeded Brandon Nakashima outlasted French qualifier Titouan Droguet 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
France’s Arthur Rinderknech, seeded 23rd, advanced when 15th-seeded Frances Tiafoe retired. Rinderknech won the first set 6-2 and was up 2-0 when Tiafoe halted the match.
No. 19 seed Luciano Darderi of Italy recovered from a slow start to defeat China’s Juncheng Shang 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. Darderi took control by breaking twice in the second set and carried an early advantage through the decider.
Portugal’s Nuno Borges produced a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann. Borges won 89.3% of his first-service points and did not face a break point during the 73-minute match. He will face Darderi in the fourth round.
–Field Level Media
