Young Briton Cameron Norrie’s excellent late summer has continued into the autumn. The 22 year-old surged to the Tiburon title with a comprehensive 6-2, 6-3 win over 2nd seed Tennys Sandgren. Norrie, who was himself seeded 8th in the tournament, won in exactly an hour and sixteen minutes. Norrrie broke twice in each set, saving five of the six break points he faced.
Norrie grew into the tournament after a pair of close matches to open his campaign. He edged young Swede Elias Ymer 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 in the first round, before defeating Mitchell Krueger 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in the second. Norrie did not drop another set from that point He defeated 4th seed Michael Mmoh 7-5, 6-2, and the unseeded Prajnesh Gunneswaran 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals.
Norrie seems to enjoy American Challengers, as all four of his final appearances have come in the United States. He was the Aptos runner-up in 2016, before winning his first Challenger title in Binghampton this July. He was beaten 6-4, 6-1 by Kevin King in the Cary final, but after a week long break, took the title in Tiburon this week.
Norrie’s win sees him move up to a career-high ranking of No.136, a move of twenty-nine places.
Norrie was ranked as low as No.275 before the Binghampton tournament, but a strong run at Challengers and a good run at the US Open have seen him climb more than one hundred places in the last few months. His highlight run was his first successful qualification for a Grand Slam, followed by his first main draw win. He defeated veteran Russian Dmitry Tursunov before falling to eventual semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta.
Sandgren’s runner-up showing ensures he also reaches a career-high ranking. A move of 7 places was enough to put the American back in the Top 100 at No.97, one place higher than his previous best of No.98.
Both men feature in the Stockton tournament this week. Norrie, again seeded 8th, faces American wildcard Deiton Baughman. Sandgren, seeded 2nd, starts against Australia’s Christopher O’ Connell. The pair are in the same section, and could face each other in the quarter-finals.
