Monte Carlo Masters: Cameron Norrie crashes out in opening round, Jack Draper and Stan Wawrinka progress
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Updated 10/04/2023 at 18:14 GMT
Cameron Norrie was the first player to be eliminated from the Monte Carlo Masters as he suffered a 6-3 6-4 defeat to Francisco Cerundolo in the opening round. The 11th-seeded Brit was blown away as Cerundolo landed 24 winners to kick off his European clay court season in style. Jack Draper and Stan Wawrinka were among the players to progress, beating Sebastian Baez and Tallon Griekspoor.
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Cameron Norrie crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters in the opening round with a straight sets defeat to Francisco Cerundolo, but there were wins for British youngster Jack Draper and veteran wild card Stan Wawrinka.
British No. 1 Norrie lost 6-3 6-4 as he was blown away by Cerundolo’s 24 winners in a match lasting one hour and 11 minutes.
Norrie kicked off the European clay-court season as the 11th seed in Monte Carlo, but suffered a second consecutive opening-match tournament exit after losing to Gregoire Barrere at the Miami Open in March.
It has been a surprising dip in form from the 27-year-old, who has otherwise enjoyed an impressive 2023 season so far, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro and reaching finals in Auckland and Buenos Aires.
But world No. 33 Cerundolo, a quarter-finalist in Miami, proved too strong.
The Argentinean landed four aces to Norrie’s one and won 90% of his first serve points, while his impressive tally of winners was more than double Norrie’s 10.
Cerundolo got off to the perfect start by immediately breaking Norrie, winning every point on the Brit’s opening service game, before holding serve for a 3-0 lead.
Norrie broke back at 4-3 to put the opening set back on serve, but Cerundolo then converted the second of two break points in the following game to restore his advantage before serving out a 33-minute opening set.
Both players were forced to save break points early in the second set, but the dam eventually burst when Cerundolo took his second chance to break at 5-4, winning a game lasting almost six minutes before keeping his cool to serve out the match.
Cerundolo will face Matteo Berrettini in the second round, after the Italian took down Maxime Cressy with a 6-4 6-2 win.
Former champion Wawrinka rolled back the years with a superb performance to come from a set behind to beat Tallon Griekspoor 5-7 6-4 6-4.
The 38-year-old Swiss, who won the event in 2014, hit 35 winners and eventually finished off a match lasting two hours and 25 minutes after Griekspoor saved five match points.
"It was really important to stay calm with myself," Wawrinka said.
"In the first round you need to find your game. The first match on clay is never easy against a good player. I am happy to get through. It was important to fight until the end."
Wawrinka faces a stern test next against eighth seed Taylor Fritz.
Draper earned an impressive victory by beating Argentina's Sebastian Baez 6-3 7-5 to set up a second round tie with tenth seed Hubert Hurkacz, who won in three sets against Laslo Djere.
The 21-year-old is making his debut appearance in Monte Carlo and made a strong start against an opponent ranked 31 places higher than him, landing six aces, 19 winners and saving 11 of the 12 break points he faced.
Another wildcard, Dominic Thiem, earned an impressive win as the Estoril quarter-finalist beat Richard Gasquet 6-1 6-4.
The Austrian clay-court specialist will meet sixth seed Holger Rune next, who was given a bye to the second round.
Diego Schwartzmann beat David Goffin 6-4 6-2 and will meet Jannik Sinner next, while qualifier Ivan Gakhov earned himself a clash with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic by beating Mackenzie McDonald in three sets.
Spaniard Jaume Munar defeated Marc-Andre Huesler in three sets and will face Andrey Rublev in the next round, while Botic van de Zandschulp went the distance against Marton Fucsovics and came out on top to set up a clash with Casper Ruud.
Nicolas Jarry will face Alexei Popyrin in the second round after the pair defeated Borna Coric and Dusan Lajovic respectively, while France's Benjamin Bonzi beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles to earn himself a meeting with defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Roberto Bautista Agut came from a set down to defeat Filip Krajinovic in three. He will face Alexander Bublik or Alexander Zverev next.
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