Delight For Darcis: Veteran Gives Belgium Lead Over Great Britain

Steve Darcis needed more than three hours to get through his first ATP Cup match on Friday. But he needed only one hour and 12 minutes to beat World No. 53 Cameron Norrie 6-2, 6-4, giving Belgium a 1-0 lead over Great Britain at the ATP Cup in Sydney.

The 35-year-old announced his intention to retire after the 2020 Australian Open, but he is looking in fine form. Darcis earned his best win by FedEx ATP Ranking since triumphing against then-World No. 50 Adrian Mannarino at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Lisbon last May.

[FINAL EIGHT]

For every question Norrie posed in the match, Darcis had an answer. The Belgian put his backhand slice to great use, keeping the lefty from being too aggressive, and waiting for the perfect time to take advantage of an opening. That also kept Norrie, who beat Bulgaria's Dimitar Kuzmanov on Friday, from finding a rhythm from the baseline.

Darcis has given Belgian No. 1 David Goffin a chance to close out the tie against Daniel Evans, whom the World No. 11 has never played. Belgium is trying to move to 2-0 in Group C play. Bulgaria moved to 2-0 in the group earlier in the day by defeating Moldova 2-1.

[WATCH LIVE 3]

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2MUZqD9