Norrie sails by Varillas to collect comfortable first-round win

ByEurosport

Updated 16/01/2024 at 06:48 GMT

Cameron Norrie collected a comfortable first-round win against Juan Pablo Varillas at the Australian Open. The 19th-seeded Norrie won in straight sets – 6-4 6-4 6-2 – to set up a second-round encounter with Giulio Zeppieri. Should he emerge from that, Casper Ruud will likely be waiting in round three. Later, Jack Draper won a remarkable five-setter against Marcos Giron.Britain’s Norrie sweeps through with win over Varillas – Australian Open highlights

Cameron Norrie beat Juan Pablo Varillas 6-4 6-4 6-2 at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.

Ahead of the tournament, Norrie withdrew from the ASB Classic in Auckland owing to a wrist issue, but there were little signs of any discomfort in a composed performance against Varillas.

The pair had met once before, a win for Norrie in the semi-final at the Argentina Open, and having won a tighter-than-expected first set, the Brit streaked away in the second and third.

Next up for the Brit is a match against Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri. Should he win that, he will match his best showings at Melbourne Park, which were third-round appearances in 2021 and 2023.

Casper Ruud is his likely opponent in round three, with Alexander Zverev a potential fourth-round opponent.

Varillas is ranked 81st in the world but represented a potential banana skin for Norrie. This was evidenced by the fact he took Zverev to five sets in the first round of the 2023 Australian Open, and he applied pressure to the Norrie serve early in the first.

However, he was unable to convert the break point he fashioned in game two and the Brit came into his own as the set progressed, eventually securing the decisive break in the fifth game.

The second and third sets were far more comfortable affairs as the 19th seed emerged from the slight caution that had marked his performance in the first and Varillas wobbled on serve.

An early double-break in the second put him in control despite a brief Varillas rally as the Brit looked to serve it out, and breaks in the third and seventh games of the next set put him through.

Norrie ‘sails into second round’ with impressive opening victory

Elsewhere, Jack Draper rallied from two-sets-to-one down to beat Marcos Giron on Court 8 to win 6-4 3-6 4-6 6-0 6-2.

Draper began well in a fluctuating match, winning the first set before beginning to struggle physically as Giron collected the second and third sets.

The heat was weighing heavily on the Brit in brutal conditions. Draper had his blood pressure checked at the end of the second and looked on the cusp of a first-round exit after dropping the third.

However, after taking the second of his allotted toilet breaks at the end of that set, he produced a remarkable turnaround, securing a bagel to send the match to a decider.

Giron had produced a serving masterclass in the third, dropping just four points on serve. But the match turned on the first game of the fourth.

Draper defended two break points before obliterating the serve of his opponent during the rest of the set to level the match.

The American took a break between the fourth and fifth sets but it failed to re-set the initiative and when Draper broke his serve in the second game of the set, the writing looked to be on the wall.

But in the very next game, Giron broke back to bring a run of eight games on the bounce for Draper to an end and put the final set back on serve.

Draper, though, produced a remarkable winner in the sixth game of the final set to break again and wrestle control of the match for a final time.

Next up for Draper is Tommy Paul or Gregoire Barrere.

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