Britain's Cameron Norrie knocked out of Italian Open by Marin Cilic after failing to build on first-set comeback

Cameron Norrie sunk to a disappointing defeat to Marin Cilic in the last 32 of the Italian Open in Rome. Ninth seed Norrie had admitted to feeling «very nervous» at the start of his previous match in the Masters 1000 event — a win over Italian wildcard Luca Nardi — and it seemed to be the same story on Grand Stand Arena on Wednesday night as Cilic stormed into a 5-2 lead in the first set.

Ad/> But whether it was being so far down in the score or something else Norrie suddenly mounted a remarkable comeback, taking the next five games to steal the set 7-5. ATP Rome'Very nervous' Norrie says he has to 'clean up a lot of errors' after beating NardiYESTERDAY AT 14:38 Cilic was stunned but to his credit he broke twice in the following set — in games six and eight respectively — to take it to a final set.

And emboldened by his comeback, Cilic continued his good form and for the third set in a row, got into a comfortable lead at 5-0. Norrie was looking out of sorts — and solutions — with Cilic's serve helping him look impenetrable and win plenty of free points.

That the Croatian ended up winning 76% of points on his first serve showed how difficult Norrie had found it to get break point chances. 'Private talks happening' — Nadal coy on rumours of Wimbledon ranking points removal Sinner taken to three but eventually grinds past compatriot Fognini And though the Briton belatedly got on the scoreboard and avoid a bagel, Cilic was able to get the solitary game he required to reach the last 16 in the Italian capital, where he will face Chilean Cristian Garin.