Cameron Norrie lost an absolute classic to Matteo Berrettini at the Vienna Open, and he’s been told one of the biggest mistakes he made in the battle.
Norrie had a disappointing Asian swing, but he returned to the fold on the European indoor circuit with an impressive win over Andrey Rublev.
The British No. 2 battled against Berrettini in an epic battle, which went the distance after two tight tie-breaks.
Norrie lost the match in the deciding set, and Sky Sports commentator Robbie Koenig has detailed the key moment of the loss.
Cameron Norrie told where he went wrong against Matteo Berrettini
Norrie came out of the blocks quickly against Berrettini and raced to a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but he couldn’t make his early lead play.
The Brit had a chance to land the double break, but Berrettini fought back into the match to level it up at 4-4.
The Italian won the set with a tie-break and Koenig believes the opening set laid the foundations for the Italian’s win.
He did so well to win the first set because he was on the cusp of going down a double break, 5-1. Four break points,” said the broadcaster.
“He [Norrie] should’ve wrapped up the set at 4-1. How crucial was that to the outcome of this contest? Norrie was only able to convert a break point on one occasion.”
Norrie has risen to World No. 30 after reaching the round of 16 of the Vienna Open and will next enter the Paris Masters.
Robbie Koenig calls out ‘toughest’ part of tennis during Cameron Norrie vs Matteo Berrettini
Norrie vs Berrettini was over three hours long and it led Koenig to reveal what he believes is one of the ‘toughest’ parts of tennis.
Daniil Medvedev was waiting to come on to play Corentin Moutet, but he had to delay his preparations when it went to a decider.
“That’s one of the challenges when you’re next on,” said Koenig during Norrie and Berrettini’s battle in Vienna.
“It’s one of the toughest things in our sport. Knowing when you are going to start your match because it could be another 90 minutes before Medvedev takes to the court against Moutet.
“It could be in the next five minutes. How does that affect what you eat? You don’t want to be too heavy going on court. You don’t want to be too light and run out of energy.
“Most other sports, especially the team sports, you know exactly where you play, what time you play, and pretty much the duration of the match. That’s not the case with tennis.
“You’ve got to wait the night before to know when the schedule comes out. What court, what player, what time is it going to be.”
Berrettini will play Alex de Minaur in the quarter-final of the Vienna Open.
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