Rafael Nadal fought off a tough opponent in Cameron Norrie at The French Open on Saturday. Norrie has had an excellent spell on the clay, but although he played a great match, it was an almost impossible task to cause an upset. Nadal wasn’t at his best throughout the match, hitting around 30 unforced errors. Despite this, he played some excellent tennis and played the big points brilliantly. Nadal won the match in straight sets relatively comfortably, 6-3 6-3 6-3.
Rafael Nadal Beats Cameron Norrie
First Set
Both players began the opening set looking pretty solid on serve, with Nadal looking a bit more dominant than Norrie. Until Nadal was 3-2 up, neither player was yet to earn a break point. In the sixth game, Nadal won the opening point with a sublime drop shot, and followed this up with some excellent aggressive tennis.
Nadal found himself with three break points, and while Norrie did a good job of saving the first two, he was unable to do so a third time. With a forehand error into the net, the first break went to Nadal. The Spaniard then went onto hold serve comfortably, extending his lead to 5-2.
Norrie, serving to stay in the set, stayed strong and held serve well and forced Nadal to serve out the set. Nadal then stepped up to the task calmly, and closed out the set efficiently, winning it 6-3.
Second Set
Norrie started strong in the second set, hitting with a lot more confidence and purpose, holding his opening service game with some lovely ball striking. Nadal’s first service game was rather lose, making some irregular errors combined with some more fantastic shot making from Norrie. Norrie earned his first break point, which Nadal saved with a big first serve. However, another lose shot from Nadal saw him down another break point, and Norrie this time converted.
Norrie had a 2-0 lead, but started playing a bit loosely and lost some concentration. Nadal quickly had two break points, and capitalized with some big forehands. The set was back on serve, and Norrie was frustrated. The Brit clearly put this behind him though, as took the game right back to Nadal, hitting some beautiful returns and earning himself another breakpoint. A stunning backhand winner from Norrie saw him break once again, leading 3-1.
Nadal was still playing poorly by his standards, but quickly turned it around in Norrie’s next service game. He rapidly found himself with three break points after some great aggressive hitting. Norrie saved the first, but Nadal proved too strong and broke, before holding once again to make it 3-3.
Nadal then continued to pile pressure onto Norrie’s serve and earnt himself another break. The Spaniard’s level was definitely rising now. Another hold from Nadal saw him up 5-3, and Norrie all of a sudden was serving to stay in the set.
Nadal played another great return game, gaining a set point at 30-40. Norrie showed good resolve to save it, but couldn’t keep it up for long. Another set point for Rafa saw him execute an absolutely stunning cross-court backhand, taking the second set 6-3. Nadal was playing at a much higher level now.
Third Set
With Nadal now playing some excellent tennis, Norrie had to start this set strong. Both players held serve initially, but at 2-1 down Norrie found himself once again under pressure. More brutal attacking tennis from Nadal saw him with more break points, and a breath-taking cross-court forehand secured it. Despite some lovely ball striking by Norrie, he couldn’t keep Nadal at bay.
Norrie couldn’t do much to hurt the Nadal serve, and quickly the 13 time French Open champion was up 4-1. Further pressure came onto Norrie’s serve, and another break point came Nadal’s way. However, Norrie showed his resolve and saved it, going on to hold serve well.
Norrie played a great return game and did everything he could to put pressure back on Nadal, but the epic Spaniard was too strong and found himself just a game away from winning the match at 5-2. Nadal could now see the finish line and found himself with a match point on Norrie’s serve. Once again though, the Brit saved this and held serve to force Nadal to serve out the match.
Norrie played another excellent return game, hitting a wonderful forehand winner to show he was still in the match. However, Nadal was just proving too strong. Match point up, he made no mistakes and closed out the match 6-3 6-3 6-3. It was a good victory for Nadal against a tough in-form opponent, who next faces the rising star Jannik Sinner in the fourth round.
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