Norrie Nails Down Decider To Give Great Britain The Lead

Cameron Norrie first played Dimitar Kuzmanov at a Futures event in 2014, losing just two games. The lefty didn't have it anywhere near as easy Friday evening in Sydney, but he got the job done nonetheless.

Norrie defeated Kuzmanov 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to give Team Great Britain a 1-0 lead in its tie against Team Bulgaria, setting the stage for British No. 1 Daniel Evans to potentially clinch the tie against 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion Grigor Dimitrov.

The difference in the match was Norrie's success with his swinging lefty serve, helping him win 83 per cent of his first-serve points en route to a two-hour victory. He broke serve six times, including on four occasions in the third set.

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Interestingly Norrie won his lowest rate of first-serve points in the final set (69%), but he improved his return pressure, winning 74 per cent of his return points in the decider.

The 24-year-old Norrie enjoyed the best season of his young career in 2019, breaking into the Top 50 of the FedEx ATP Rankings in March before reaching a career-high No. 41 in May. And with his triumph against Kuzmanov, the Brit appears poised for a fast start once again.

Dimitrov takes a 2-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head series lead into his clash against Evans, whom he defeated in straight sets last September in Chengdu.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/35nI346