Norrie Calm Under Pressure In Eastbourne
Cameron Norrie was rewarded for his play under pressure Wednesday in Eastbourne.
The top-seeded Briton saved all four break points he faced in a 6-4, 6-2 victory to reach the quarter-finals of the Rothesay International. The No. 12 player in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings will next play serve-and-volleying American Maxime Cressy, a 7-6(2), 6-4 winner over Daniel Evans.
“I really enjoyed it. I was a little bit nervous going out there, especially [because] I hadn’t won a match on the grass this year, so I was looking for that first win and Brandon is a great player," Norrie said in his post-match interview. "Eastbourne is really special for me. My first-ever ATP win on this very court here."
Norrie entered the match with a 1-1 ATP Head2Head record against Nakashima, but he was never in trouble against the American. The lefty earned 12 break points and converted three of them to triumph after one hour and 25 minutes.
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The critical moment came when Norrie was serving for the first set at 5-4, 0/40. Nakashima had three chances to break back, which could have changed the tenor of the match. But instead, the top seed clawed out of trouble and cruised from there.
Sixth seed Alex de Minaur also advanced with a 7-6(3), 6-2 victory against Italian Lorenzo Sonego in a rematch of last year's Eastbourne final. In that match, De Minaur needed a final-set tie-break to lift the trophy. Wednesday's clash was not as complicated.
The Australian only faced one break point and took advantage of three of his five opportunities to move on after one hour and 34 minutes. De Minaur will challenge Tommy Paul for a plce in the semi-finals, after the American upset second seed Jannik Sinner, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
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