Cameron Norrie pulled off a big upset at the French Open and earned his biggest win in more than a year as he took out 11th seed Daniil Medvedev in the first round. The Brit had never even won a set against Medvedev before and only managed to get six games against the former No. 1 when they met just weeks ago in Rome.
But Norrie got his revenge and made it four Brits and counting through to the second round here as he stunned Medvedev 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5, winning the last four games in a row in a heroic comeback.
It wasn’t the Brit’s only comeback in the match, at one point he reeled off eight games in a row after going a break down in the first set.
Medvedev had a 5-3 lead in the opener and served for it, but he suffered a huge collapse and was left looking helpless as an aggressive Norrie ripped winners across the court, snatching the first set and racing into a 4-0 lead in the second.
The world No. 11 started venting towards his box, but he was finally able to end Norrie’s run of games as he hit four winners to get one of the breaks back.
Norrie’s lead was too big, however, and Medvedev couldn’t close the gap. He soon found himself two sets down and called the physio early in the third to have a small cut on his finger taped up.
The third set was more of a tussle – both men blew break point chances. Medvedev finally got the breakthrough he’d been looking for with Norrie serving to stay in the set, taking it 6-4 when the world No. 81 sent the ball wide.
It gave Medvedev a new lease of life, and he bulldozed through the fourth set, taking it in 24 minutes and dropping only one game. The Brit called the trainer and left the court. And when he returned, he was made to work.
Norrie, whose ranking has dropped outside of the top 80 from its peak of No. 8, survived a 10-plus-minute game to start the deciding set, saving four break points to get on the board.
Medvedev broke at the very next opportunity and soon put himself a game away from a comeback victory, leading 5-3. But Norrie had clawed his way back from the same position before, and he was keen to mount another comeback.
The unforced errors creeped back in for Medvedev as he tried to serve it out, and Norrie was given a lifeline, roaring and whipping his head around in celebration as he broke.
He kept on rolling, staying aggressive and taking it to the former world No. 1, who kept on making mistakes. With Norrie leading 6-5, Medvedev sent the ball long and the Brit chucked his racket into the air, raising his arms up in celebration.
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