Cameron Norrie will be playing in the second round of the 2023 Roland Garros after beating Benoit Paire.
The Frenchman is one of the players that like to play in front of the home crowd and so it's not a surprise that the Roland Garros is the only Grand Slam that he never missed in his career. This year, he made the appearance again but the draw wasn't nice to him.
Paire drew the 14th-seeded Cameron Norrie who had a strong start of the season, even beating Carlos Alcaraz on clay to claim the 2023 Rio Open title. But in recent weeks, the Brith experienced some surprising losses and there was certainly a chance for an upset on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.
The two met twice before on the ATP Tour, with their last meeting being at the US Open last year. Back then, Norrie bagled his opponent twice, winning 6-0, 7-6(1), 6-0. But this time, things were different.
The Frenchman was playing in front of his fans and for the first time since 2019, he has a winning record this season, even an ATP Challenger title to his name. And he showed confidence since the match started.
Paire was the first player to break in the first set, but thanks to a superb finish and saving seven break points, Norrie was able to break back twice and win the first set 7-5 to get an early advantage against his opponent.
But in the second set, the use of break points tilted dramatically in the Frenchman's favour. He used his only break point in the third game, while his opponent struggled to use any of his four chances, resulting in Paire winning the second set 6-4 and levelling the score of the match.
The third set was the best one from Paire. He had a period when he seemed to be simply unstoppable and won five consecutive games. Although Norrie than managed to recover one break, the world no. 149 broke again to win the third set 6-3.
Yet, the Brit wanted to take the match into the decider and he made everything that he needed in the fourth set. After his opponent won the first game, the 14th seed won the following six, taking the fourth set 6-1.
In the fifth set, Paire secured a one-break advantage already in the first game. He then faced four break points in game number four but saved all of them. However, he couldn't do the same thing in the eighth game and the score was tied once again at four games all.
Eventually, Norrie was able to ride the momentum to win the match 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, and secure the second-round spot at the 2023 Roland Garros.
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