World No. 12 Cameron Norrie said he was pleased with how he handled the Felix Auger-Aliassime in Los Cabos. Norrie, the defending Los Cabos champion, defeated Auger-Aliassime 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the final. On Friday, Norrie finally clinched his first victory over Auger-Aliassime.
Auger-Aliassime now owns a 4-1 head-to-head versus Norrie. “Especially winning last year, you want to come out and win the title, but [I’ve just] taken it one match at a time,” Norrie said after the win, per the ATP website.
“It was a tough task at the beginning of the tournament and I got through a couple of matches. [Against] Felix today it was looking really tough, so I was really pleased with how I handled that today, especially after losing that second set”.
Norrie on wanting to make a good start against Auger-Aliassime
“Every time he just gets me and plays better than me, so I really wanted to win that one more than usual,” said Norrie. “I started off great and then Felix found his level in the second set, so I feel really good to get through that one, especially with the last game when he had a couple of chances to break me.
I managed to hold on tight and tough it out.” Norrie made a good start as he clinched the first break of the match in the fifth game and then held on to his serve the rest of the set to win the opener. After losing the first set, Auger-Aliassime earned his first break of the match in the second game of the second set.
But Auger-Aliassime’s lead was short-lived as Norrie broke back in the third game. However, blowing an early break didn’t impact Auger-Aliassime, who broke Norrie again in the eighth game, before serving out for the second set in the following game.
After losing the second set, Norrie clinched the lone break of the third set in the fourth game and sealed a three-set victory.
