‘Good Sensations’: Norrie Makes Winning Start In Lyon

Cameron Norrie settled in quickly at the Open Parc Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Lyon on Tuesday, when the top seed registered a comfortable 6-4, 6-4 opening win over Francisco Cerundolo at the ATP 250 event.

The World No. 11 broke Cerundolo’s serve twice in each set to complete a one-hour, 40-minute win at a tournament where he reached the championship match in 2021, before falling to Stefanos Tsitsipas. Having also made the semi-finals on debut in 2018, Norrie is hoping to maintain the feel-good factor as he hunts another deep run in France.

The pick-up 👀
The backhand smash 😍

All-round brilliance from @cam_norrie in Lyon pic.twitter.com/2FPiLgnHZk

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 17, 2022

“It’s great to be here in Lyon,” said Norrie after extending his winning record at the event to 8-3. “I feel really good here, such a simple tournament and the people that come out to watch are really passionate about tennis, they love it.

“[I had] good sensations and I really enjoyed the match for the most part. Francisco is a tricky player with a really good forehand, so I had to watch out for that. There were some nerves there in the second set, [when I was] up a break, and I kind of gave it away a little bit. I was able to break again, and he gave me a couple of loose points towards the end, so I will take those and move on.”

Norrie’s quarter-final opponent will be Sebastian Baez, after the seventh seed rallied to a 5-7, 6-4, 6-2 win over Oscar Otte.

Baez is on a strong run of form on the European clay. He claimed a maiden tour-level title in Estoril in April and qualified for the Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome last week, reaching the second round before falling to Alexander Zverev at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

The Argentine was in trouble on his Lyon debut, however. World No. 60 Otte took the first set in the pair’s maiden ATP Head2Head meeting, but Baez broke twice in each of the second and third sets to complete a one-hour, 57-minute win and reach his fourth tour-level quarter-final of the year.

FOLLOW THIS WEEK’S ACTION

📺 TV Schedule
🎾 Watch Live On Tennis TV
📱 Follow Live Scores On ATP Tour App
📧 Sign Up For Newsletters

Norrie is prepared for a stern test from Baez when the pair meets for their first tour-level meeting in Lyon. The Argentine’s recent success has not taken the Briton by surprise.

“He [Baez] is having a great year, and I really liked his game when I was in Argentina doing a pre-season many years ago, so it’s nice to see him come on and it’s going to be tough,” said Norrie. “He’s won a title on the clay already this year in Estoril and he’s really enjoying his tennis. I practised with him the other day and he’s hitting the ball big off both sides, so it’s going to be a tough one.”

Fourth seed Alex de Minaur also enjoyed a successful main-draw debut in Lyon, bouncing back from losing a one-sided first set to home favourite Ugo Humbert in a 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 win. De Minaur has shown solid form in recent weeks on the European clay, reaching the semi-finals in Barcelona in April and the third round in Rome last week, but the 23-year-old Australian is chasing a maiden title on the red dirt.

In the quarter-finals De Minaur will face Yosuke Watanuki, who notched a 6-3, 6-4 win over Soonwoo Kwon for his second tour-level win of the year.

The first round was rounded out in Lyon on Tuesday, as qualifier Manuel Guinard claimed his maiden tour-level win with a 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2 upset of World No. 68 Hugo Gaston. He next faces Michael Mmoh, while Federico Coria booked a second round clash with Pablo Carreno Busta by downing Daniel Altmaier, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.