British tennis player Cameron Norrie won this Saturday 6-2, 3-6 and 7-6 (3) in Espanyol Barnabas Zapata in the semifinals of the Rio de Janeiro Open and advanced to the final of the tournament where he will await the winner of the duel between the Spaniards as well. Carlos Alcaraz and the Chilean Nicholas Jarry.
Norrie, number 13 in the world ranking and also a finalist at the Argentina Open on Sunday, where he was defeated by Alcaraz, needed 2 hours and 29 minutes of a tiebreaker match to eliminate the Valencian tennis player from 26 year old, who was a semifinalist in both Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro.
With his progress to the final, the British, second favorite in Brazil, confirmed himself as the tennis player with the highest number of victories in the current season: 17.
The 27-year-old left-hander, who has four titles in his career, also struggled on Friday in the quarterfinals, where he ousted Bolivian Hugo Dellien (111 ATP) 4-6, 6-1 and 6- 4 in a game of one hour and 55 minutes that he had to return.
If Alcaraz, number two in the world, beats Jarry (139 ATP) in the semifinals, the Spaniard and the British, the two top favorites, will repeat in Rio de Janeiro the final they staged last week in Buenos Aires.
Despite his defeat on Saturday, Zapata, who this week reached his best position in the ATP ranking (63), should rise a little in the ranking, after reaching two semifinals in two consecutive tournaments and reaching this time. for the first time in an ATP 500 tournament.
Norrie started the most attacking match and broke her first two serves and confirmed herself to open up a comfortable and quick 5-1 lead in just 23 minutes.
Despite the fact that the Valencian sold the last two games dearly, which he extended by several minutes with strong resistance, the South African-born Briton ended up winning the set 6-2 in 39 minutes.
The Valencian came back better for the second set against an erratic Norrie and, after breaking the Brit’s first serve, opened up a 3-0 lead in 13 minutes. They immediately knew how to manage their advantage and were able to win 6-3 and tie the game in 39 minutes.
The third set was more even and fast-paced, with both physically struggling to hold their serves until the sixth game, when Norrie finally broke Zapata’s serve and opened up a 4-2 lead. But the Spaniard immediately called with the same coin and confirmed his serve to level the score at 4-4.
The parity remained until 6-6 and the finalist had to be decided in a tiebreak, where Norrie was more effective and won 7-3.
Source: La Verdad
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