Monte Carlo Masters: Cameron Norrie crashes out in opening round to Francisco Cerundolo in Monaco

Cameron Norrie crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters in the opening round with a straight-sets defeat to Francisco Cerundolo. The Brit lost 6-3 6-4 as he was blown away by Cerundolo’s 24 winners in a match lasting one hour and 11 minutes.

Ad Norrie kicked off the European clay-court season as the 11th seed in Monte Carlo, but suffered a second consecutive opening-match tournament exit after losing to Gregoire Barrere at the Miami Open in March. ATP MiamiMedvedev takes down Miami Open surprise package Eubanks to set up last-four clash with Khachanov30/03/2023 AT 19:25 It has been a surprising dip in form from the 27-year-old, who has otherwise enjoyed an impressive 2023 season so far, beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final on the clay courts of Rio de Janeiro and reaching finals in Auckland and Buenos Aires.

But world No. 33 Cerundolo, a quarter-finalist in Miami, proved too strong.

The Argentinean landed four aces to Norrie’s one and won 90% of his first serve points, while his impressive tally of winners was more than double Norrie’s 10. Tiafoe clinches ATP title in Houston despite late scare from Etcheverry Ruud beats Kecmanovic to claim Estoril Open title, ending nine-month winless run Djokovic wants to start the clay-court season in top gear as he heads to Monte Carlo Cerundolo got off to the perfect start by immediately breaking Norrie, winning every point on the Brit’s opening service game, before holding serve for a 3-0 lead.

Norrie broke back at 4-3 to put the opening set back on serve, but Cerundolo then converted the second of two break points in the following game to restore his advantage before serving out a 33-minute opening set. Both players were forced to save break points early in the second set, but the