Cameron Norrie made a winning start to his grass season on Monday by defeating Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in straight sets in his opening match at The Queen’s Club.
Norrie, who is seeded fifth in this year’s draw, secured a 6-4, 7-6(5), victory over the world No.40 in less than two hours. The win is his 30th of the season on the Tour and marks the first time he had played on the grass since losing to Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year. He now leads Kecmanovic 3-0 in their head-to-head.
“It feels good to be back on the grass and to be back here in London playing,” the world No.13 said during his on-court interview.
“It wasn’t easy to get over the line. I had a couple of chances at the end of the second set. It was nice to see that forehand (from Kacemanovic) fly long.’
“It is always tricky to play the first match on grass. I have a few things to work on but I really enjoyed that.”
Despite the straightforward score, there were moments when Norrie was tested. During the early stages of the opening set, he lost a 2-0 advantage after getting broken to love. Then in the fifth game, he had to fend off five break points to stay ahead of Kecmanovic. He managed to seal the 6-4 lead with the help of an aggressive approach that forced his opponent to produce a series of unforced errors.
A similar storyline unfolded in the second frame with the home favourite breaking early for a 3-1 lead before getting pegged back by Kecmanovic, who is coached by two-time Grand Slam doubles champion Wayne Black. Norrie then had a match point whilst leading 6-5 but he was unable to convert due to some top defensive play from his opponent. However, he prevailed in the tiebreaker where he won six out of the first eight points played. After missing three more match points, he sealed the victory with the help of a Kecmanovic forehand error.
“I think I’m quite an intense player and if I’m not playing at this full intensity I really don’t have a chance against these guys,” the Brit said of his game style.
“I have to take it point-by-point and compete as hard as I can.” He added.
Walking onto the court, Norrie was seen wearing strapping around his left knee but was still able to move freely around the court. He is yet to publically comment on the reason why he is wearing it.
Awaiting Norrie in the next round will be either former Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic or Jordan Thompson. Raonic is currently on the comeback from a two-year injury absence due to a serious Achilles issue. During his absence, the Canadian didn’t play tennis for 14 months.
Earlier in the day, another home player to book their spot in the second round was Ryan Peniston who produced a highly impressive 6-4, 6-2, win over France’s Ugo Humbert. Somebody who is currently ranked more than 200 places above him in the ATP standings. Peniston currently had six Tour-level wins to his name with all of them occurring on the grass.
“I loved playing her last year, so to come back, it feels pretty comfortable to be on the court. It’s just amazing,” said Peniston, who reached the quarter-finals at Queen’s last year.
“I was nervous – I was more nervous last year. But once you get going it is a lot of fun out there.”
