French Open: Norrie stuns Medvedev in 'crazy' rollercoaster; Zverev wins

Paris, May 27 (IANS) Top British men's tennis player Cameron Norrie caused a major upset at the French Open on Tuesday, stunning 11th seed Daniil Medvedev in a gruelling five-set battle in the men's singles first round, while last year's runner-up Alexander Zverev of Germany too advanced to the next round.

In other first-round action, Australia's Alex de Minaur, the ninth seed, defeated Laslo Djere of Serbia 6-3, 6-4, 7-6(6) while Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan defeated James Duckworth of Australia 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Norrie, currently No. 81 in the ATP Rankings, dug deep into his energy reserves for a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 victory to advance to the second round in Paris for the fifth time. After rallying from a two-sets-to-love deficit, Medvedev then failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the decider before Norrie crossed the line after three hours, 53 minutes.

Norrie rose is in good form as he rose nine spots in the PIF ATP Rankings last week with his run to the semifinals in Geneva, where he lost to eventual champion Novak Djokovic. The former World No. 8 will now look to build on his run of form in Paris, where he next faces Argentine lucky loser Federico Agustin Gomez, who defeated Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

It looked like he would win the match in straight sets as Medvedev failed to serve out the opening set at 5-4 and Norrie subsequently won eight consecutive games to soar to a two-sets-to-love lead. The former US Open champion, Medvedev shifted to a more aggressive approach in the second set, but it was unsuccessful, thus reverting back to his more traditional counterpunching style, which proved pivotal.

Leading 2-1 in the third set, Medvedev received a medical timeout to treat a cut on his right index finger. Yet despite the increasingly loose grip on his racquet, Medvedev showed signs of resilience. The 29-year-old let slip two break points at 3-2 in the third, according to Infosys Stats, but responded with a mid-match streak of his own, during which he won seven straight games en route to levelling the contest.

However, it was Norrie's fighting spirit that proved decisive in the end as he won the decider to win the thrilling encounter.

It was a real dogfight between the two stars early on, with Norrie saving four break points to hold serve after a 13-minute opening game. Yet while Medvedev appeared to be closing in on his fifth career comeback from a two-set deficit, Norrie held firm and stuck to his aggressive game plan, reeling off the final four games from 3-5 to seal his first Lexus ATP Head2Head victory over Medvedev in their fifth battle.

Medvedev’s first-round defeat draws parallels to his second-round loss at the Australian Open in January when he rallied from two sets down only to fall to Learner Tien. Medvedev has now lost in the opening round at Roland Garros in six of his nine appearances in the French capital.

There was no such challenge for Zverev as he claimed a contrasting 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 first-round win over Tien on Tuesday. The third seed, who was also defeated by the American in Acapulco in February, saved all four break points faced during the one-hour, 53-minute clash.

The third-seeded Zverev, who has reached the semi-finals in each of his past four appearances at the clay-court major, will next play Francesco Passaro or Jesper de Jong.

--IANS

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