For a straight-sets match, particularly one without a tie-break, this one on Wednesday night at the Rio Open presented by Claro was as epic as they come. Cameron Norrie’s 7-5, 7-5 win against Thiago Monteiro was a two-and-a-half-hour odyssey that saw the Briton create 21 break points before clinching victory on his sixth match point.
Eight of the 12 games in the opening set featured at least one break chance, including a marathon seven-deuce game at 1-1 in which Monteiro saved four break points to hold. All told, the Brazilian erased 16 break points, but it was not enough to take a set off the in-form second seed.
“It was a great match,” Norrie said post-match. “I had a lot of opportunities in that first set and I could have been a lot more comfortable but he fought back strong and played really well in the bigger moments and served really well. Credit to him, but I was able to tough out the end of the sets.
“I was really hitting my backhand line really well and it made it difficult for him when he was trying to cheat over on his forehand,” he added, discussing the lefty vs. left rallies.
Norrie had an opportunity to close out both sets on serve at 5-4, but was denied on both occasions, much to the delight of the late-night crowd on Court Guga Kuerten. In set two, Monteiro saved three match points on his own serve at 3-5 to extend the match, but he could not claw out of a 40/0 hole in his opponent’s second attempt to serve out the victory.
After reaching the final last week in Buenos Aires, losing to Carlos Alcaraz, Norrie’s victory improved his record to 5-1 this season on the South American clay. He and Alcaraz are once again the top two seeds this week, and could square off again in the final of the ATP 500.
Norrie will next play Bolivia’s Hugo Dellien, who upset ninth seed Alex Molcan 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 on Wednesday.
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Earlier in the day, sixth seed Sebastian Baez defeated Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci 6-3, 6-2 to bring the former World No. 21’s farewell tournament to an end. The 35-year-old Bellucci was competing in the Rio main draw for the sixth time, his best result a quarter-final run in his 2014 debut.
“I’m happy with what I have done in 20 years of professional tennis. I’m very happy for what I have achieved,” said the Brazilian. “Amazing atmosphere today, so I’m very happy to have my last match here in Rio, close to my family, my friends and all the Brazilian crowd.”
Baez, who won the Cordoba title earlier this month on home soil in Argentina, will face Juan Pablo Varillas in the second round. The Peruvian was a 7-5, 6-4 winner against Hugo Gaston on Tuesday.
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