NEW YORK - Briton Cameron Norrie claimed his biggest win at a Grand Slam when he came from two sets down to beat ninth seed Diego Schwartzman 3-6 4-6 6-2 6-1 7-5 in the first round of the US Open on Monday.
Both players served poorly, resulting in 58 break points being up for grabs in total, and 25-year-old Norrie saved two match points in the decider before prevailing after nearly four hours.
Extended rallies and long games were a feature of the match and it was Schwartzman who had the measure of Norrie after the early exchanges, winning four of the last five games in the opening set.
Norrie managed to create chances in the second set but did not convert the big points, giving Schwartzman a two-set lead before the Argentine started to lose his way in the third.
A time violation saw Schwartzman lose his cool and Norrie took advantage to break and lead 3-2. The Briton capitalised on more errors from a wayward Schwartzman to earn a double break before wrapping up the set.
.@cam_norrie COMES BACK FROM TWO SETS DOWN TO TAKE IT IN 5 😱
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 31, 2020
What. A. Match. pic.twitter.com/AORW6qCD9Q
Schwartzman was unable to find his groove in the fourth set as well while Norrie drastically reduced his unforced error count and converted all three break points to take the match to a decider and pile pressure on the Argentine.
The final set began with both players dropping serve. Schwartzman turned the tables with another break at 3-3 before calling for the physio to look at his wrist following a fall.
He immediately lost his momentum as Norrie saved match points at 5-3 and at 5-4 before taking a 6-5 lead as a cramping Schwartzman lost nine consecutive points and then saw his forehand hit the net on match point.
Reuters