ATP Tour: Cameron Norrie loses to Francisco Cerundolo in Lyon semi-final


Cameron Norrie was aiming to reach his third consecutive final in Lyon, having beaten Alex Molcan in the 2022 final and losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in 2021
Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Dates: 28 May-11 June
Coverage: Live text and radio commentaries of selected matches across BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the BBC Sport website and app

British number one Cameron Norrie lost 6-3 6-0 to Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event in Lyon on Friday.

Norrie appeared to be struggled physically, clutching his stomach at times during the second set.

It appeared he might retire when he headed to his bench during the opening game of the second set, but the world number 14 managed to finish the match.

Norrie, 27, had won the tournament in 2022 and reached the final in 2021.

However, against 28th-ranked Cerundolo, the Briton dropped serve in the opening game and never looked like getting back into the contest.

“He played better than me and that showed in the score,” said Norrie. “I was disappointed with my level compared to the other two matches.

“I have had a few matches before the French Open, which is exactly what I came here to do. It was a difficult way to go out but he played better than me and deserved the win.”

Cerundolo, 24, said he “played one of the best matches of the season” and added: “I’m super happy because it was a tough match. Cam is a great player, but I played amazingly and I’m happy to be in the final.”

The French Open begins on Sunday with Norrie, the 14th seed, playing French wildcard Benoit Paire, 34, in the first round.

Jarry continues excellent run to reach final

In the Geneva Open in Switzerland, Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, ranked 54th in the world, will play Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s final.

Unseeded Jarry, 27, has enjoyed a fine tournament with wins over sixth seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the last 16 and world number four Casper Ruud of Norway in the quarter-finals.

Jarry backed that up with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 victory over third seed Alexander Zverev of Germany in the semi-finals on Friday.

World number 33 Dimitrov, who has been as high as third in the world rankings, showed great form as he fought back from a set down to beat world number nine Taylor Fritz of the United States 3-6 7-5 7-6 (7-2).

The final is the second match of the day on Saturday after Britain’s Jamie Murray and New Zealand’s Michael Venus face the pairing of Spain’s Marcel Granollers and Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos in the men’s doubles final.

Across the BBC bannerAcross the BBC footer



Source link