'You always want more' - Cameron Norrie earns comeback win over Jordan Thompson to march into Queen’s quarter-finals
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Updated 21/06/2023 at 17:52 GMT
British No. 1 Cameron Norrie fought back from a set behind to beat Jordan Thompson and move into the Queen’s quarter-finals. Norrie, who defeated Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round, was overpowered in the opening set but outclassed the Australian from there on in. He will face Sebastian Korda or Frances Tiafoe next for a place in the semi-finals.
Norrie beats Thompson in three sets to reach Queen's quarter-finals
Cameron Norrie fought back from a set down to beat Jordan Thompson 4-6 6-3 6-2 and progress to the Queen’s quarter-finals.
The British No. 1 was overpowered in the opening set but produced a stirring response to complete a comeback in one hour and 57 minutes.
Norrie will face Frances Tiafoe or Sebastian Korda next in his bid to reach a second final at the London event, having finished as runner-up in 2021.
It continued a strong season for the 27-year-old, who is into an ATP quarter-final for the sixth time in 2023.
"It's really good to be that consistent, but you always want more as a tennis player," Norrie said. "It's really addictive, you want to have better results.
"I want to keep pushing for more and keep playing my best tennis in the bigger tournaments, especially a huge tournament like here at Queen's.
"It's one of my favourite tournaments - especially when the weather is like this. The courts are great, the club is amazing, so much history here, and everyone does such a great job. You feel like you're at home and everyone is supporting you."
Neither player blinked in the opening six games as the opening set stayed on serve, although Norrie was made to save three break points when he held in game five.
Thompson eventually made what proved to be a decisive breakthrough to go 4-3 ahead, before consolidating in style with three aces in a row on the way to an imperious hold.
Norrie held to force the Australian to serve for the set, and while the home player came out aggressively, he couldn’t take either of the break-point chances he got and eventually succumbed in 42 minutes.
Thompson’s monstrous tally of nine aces in the first set ensured that Norrie faced a tough task to break him, and that continued in the second as he landed two more in his opening service game.
But the Brit ramped up the pressure and it told when he set up two break points and took the first to go 4-2 up.
Norrie held his nerve to serve out the set and take the match to a decider.
There, the world No. 13 broke Thompson in the opening game and never looked back, grinding his opponent down with more aggressive shot-making to then secure the double-break at 4-1.
Norrie faced three break points while serving for the set at 5-2, but saved all of them before finishing the job off in style with an ace.
"I think it was the perfect match. Jordan really likes the grass and he played a solid first set. He played a couple of good points to break me and I played a couple of loose points, that was the difference in the first set," Norrie added.
"I actually thought I played great and didn't have to change too much. He dropped his level slightly, I came up with a few points, it was classic grass-court tennis and I was able to come out with a lot more energy in that third set.
"I think that was the difference, there wasn't much in it. It was definitely a good match to get through, a perfect match on the grass heading into Wimbledon and to start the summer."
The Briton was due to take to the Queen’s courts for a second time on Wednesday to compete in the doubles with Andy Murray.
However, the 36-year-old pulled out citing fatigue in the wake of his disappointing first-round singles defeat to Alex De Minaur on Tuesday.
Another British hope, Ryan Peniston, suffered a second-round exit to second seed Holger Rune.
The Dane won 6-3 6-4 in 86 minutes, landing five aces and 23 winners against the world No. 265.
Next he faces sixth seed Lorenzo Musetti, who edged an entertaining meeting with Ben Shelton to win 6-4 4-6 6-4.
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