Cameron Norrie survives scare against unknown qualifier to make safe passage into Wimbledon round two on rain-hit day
BRITISH No1 Cameron Norrie had a bit of a reality Czech as he toiled to beat qualifier Tomas Machac.
Norrie made life difficult for himself against the world No108 from Czechia before finally coming through in four sets, 6-3 4-6 6-1 6-4.
Machac also caused plenty of problems, especially with his use of good old-fashioned serve-and-volley tactics in his first tour-level match on grass.
But Norrie’s own inconsistency was the biggest issue and he never played well enough for long enough to bring the home crowd on No1 Court into the match.
Norrie, a semi-finalist last year at SW19, won the first set comfortably enough, breaking the Czech’s serve for the second time in the final game.
But the Brit had not really been on it, relying as much on his opponent’s errors as anything.
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Norrie recovered from going a break down only to drop his own serve again, and could not prevent Machac from levelling up the match.
Norrie upped the intensity and accuracy of his tennis in the third set and Machac failed to cope. He was not putting enough first serves in court and made too many unforced errors.
Machac went 2-0 up in the fourth set, only for Norrie to recover immediately.
At times, the Czech seemed to be tiring and struggling with movement after a few slips on the surface.
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But Machac battled gamely on and made Norrie work for it as the Brit saved three break points in the eighth game.
In the next, a horribly mishit return by Norrie dropped in to set up the crucial break, and he went on to serve out the match.
Norrie said: “A great first match for me, it’s so good to play under the roof and the atmosphere was great, you guys got me through that fourth set to break and then hold.
“The last two years it was me waiting in the rain. It was nice to make a run last year and earn the right to play on this court. I was able to practise on it before as well so that was advantage to me. Thanks to Wimbledon.
“I just came out here firing. It wasn’t straightforward, I had to battle. But it’s nice to get it out of the way and start my campaign here.”
