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World No. 11 Cameron Norrie was thrilled after kicking off his Lyon campaign with a victory as he is hoping to make another deep run at the French ATP 250 event. After a first round bye, top-seeded Norrie saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-4 to progress into the Lyon quarterfinal.
Norrie reached the Lyon semifinal in 2018, while he ended runner-up at the tournament last year. “It’s great to be here in Lyon,” Norrie said, per the ATP Tour website. “I feel really good here, such a simple tournament and the people that come out to watch are really passionate about tennis, they love it.
“[I had] good sensations and I really enjoyed the match for the most part. Francisco is a tricky player with a really good forehand, so I had to watch out for that. There were some nerves there in the second set, [when I was] up a break, and I kind of gave it away a little bit.
I was able to break again, and he gave me a couple of loose points towards the end, so I will take those and move on”.
Norrie not taking Sebastian Baez for granted
Next up for Norrie will be a career-first meeting versus world No.
38 Baez. Baez, 21, is having a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour as he has reached two ATP finals this year and his current ranking of No. 38 is also his career-best ranking. Norrie expects a tough meeting when he clashes Baez.
“He [Baez] is having a great year, and I really liked his game when I was in Argentina doing a pre-season many years ago, so it’s nice to see him come on and it’s going to be tough,” said Norrie.
“He’s won a title on the clay already this year in Estoril and he’s really enjoying his tennis. I practised with him the other day and he’s hitting the ball big off both sides, so it’s going to be a tough one”.