[ad_1]
Cameron Norrie kept alive British singles interest at this year’s French Open despite being forced to dig deep and win a five-set thriller against home favourite Benoit Paire on Monday.
Norrie is the last Brit standing in singles at Roland Garros after Jack Draper was forced to retire injured from his opening match earlier in the day.
But he survived a nail-biter with Frenchman Paire and the raucous Roland Garros crowd to win 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4.
“It was an amazing match, great atmosphere, thank you everyone for the support both ways,” said Norrie. “I’m really pleased to be through. I need to rest up and great ready for the next one.”
There looked set to be a British wipe-out for the second time in four editions in Paris when Norrie trailed 4-2 in the deciding set on Suzanne Lenglen.
But 14th seed Norrie pulled off a stunning victory after three hours and 33 minutes to set up a meeting with another Frenchman, Lucas Pouille.
More injury woes for Draper
Draper suffered more physical problems when a left shoulder injury forced him to pull out during his first-round clash with Tomas Etcheverry after just 65 minutes of action.
The 21-year-old has struggled with hip and abdominal problems this season but declared himself fully fit ahead of the year’s second Grand Slam.
However, it became clear in the eighth game that Draper was ailing physically again when he started to serve underarm.
He managed to hold serve to make it 4-4 but Argentine Etcheverry claimed the next two to take the opening set, after which a resigned-looking Draper called the trainer.
He took some pills and tried to play on but, trailing 0-30 in the second game of the second set, admitted defeat and shook hands with his opponent before trudging off court.
There is no doubt about Draper’s potential but, rather like his former junior compatriot Emma Raducanu, his body has so far been unable to hold up to the rigours of top-level tennis.
Draper now has five weeks to recover in time for Wimbledon, which starts on July 3.
[ad_2]