French Open: Cameron Norrie mounts comeback to win five-set thriller against Benoit Paire, Jack Draper retires

Cameron Norrie displayed impressive resilience in his five-set win against wild card Benoit Paire in the first round of the French Open. The British No. 1 seemed on the verge of defeat but mounted a comeback, eventually triumphing 7-5 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 in a thrilling encounter.

Ad Playing on a packed Court Suzanne-Lenglen, Norrie faced a volatile atmosphere, with Paire receiving the majority of the support and cheers from the home crowd after every successful shot, while Norrie encountered boos when he challenged calls or adjusted his ball toss. ATP LyonNorrie crashes out in Lyon, suffers bagel in straight-sets defeat to Cerundolo26/05/2023 AT 14:20 In the tightly-contested first set, Norrie saved five break points before breaking to secure a 7-5 set victory. However, momentum shifted in the second set when Norrie lost a point due to a hindrance call, which was deemed a distraction caused by his grunt during the point.

This controversial call was the second incident involving a British player in as many days, following Dan Evans' foot-fault penalty on Sunday. Paire capitalised on the situation, breaking Norrie's serve and taking a 2-1 lead, subsequently fending off three break points to go up 3-1. Paire then secured the third set with his third break of serve.

However, the match took another turn as Norrie swiftly claimed the fourth set 6-1 in just 25 minutes. In the fifth set, Paire broke Norrie in the opening service game and saved three break points at 2-1. However, Norrie mounted a comeback and sealed victory on his second match point with a forehand winner after a marathon three hours and 33 minutes on court.