Cameron Norrie, US Open 2017
Photo by Mike Frey/BPI/REX/Shutterstock | Cameron Norrie, US Open 2017

Cameron Norrie bows out in Atlanta semi-finals after defeat to Harrison

By Jake Davies

  • Ryan Harrison defeats Cameron Norrie 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
ATLANTA, USA – Cameron Norrie‘s run to the Atlanta semi-finals came to an abrupt end as he came up short in a three set effort against America’s Ryan Harrison.

 

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Ryan Harrison def. Cameron Norrie 2-6 6-3 6-2

Cameron Norrie started off his second tour-level semi-final playing sharp and efficient tennis, as he has done all tournament, while Ryan Harrison took a while to get going and has really made a bit of a habit from coming from behind during this tournament and this match was no different.

Norrie was striking the ball cleanly for the best part to begin with, came through the opening set without facing a single break point and dropped just three points on serve en route to winning the first set, 6-2.

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Harrison fought back and gradually got better as he got his teeth into the match and his top-spin forehand started to find its range and started to cause some real damage on Norrie’s side of the court and that was the main real ploy that really changed the complexion of this match overall. Norrie’s serving numbers came down to his first set standards, while Harrison was the player that was finding more of a balance in his game of maintaining the aggression alongside the consistency from the back of the court.

When he was under any real duress, Harrison showed off his ability in the forecourt and cut off any threat from Norrie from the baseline. The American really transformed from being very errant to being calm and assured in the final set, while Norrie served all five of his double faults in the deciding set as his second serve turned out to be extremely vulnerable when it counted.

Harrison went on to drop just the five games in the next two sets to return to the Atlanta final for the second year in a row and will go on to face the man who beat him in last year’s final, John Isner.

As far as Norrie is concerned, this has been a very good week for him. He has come up against some very tough opponents, prevailed as the victor in many and has now got some confidence on the hard courts at the beginning of the autumn swing rather than chasing those meaningful victories later down the line. This week can now give him the chance to settle a bit more, watch his ranking go up slightly and put less stress on his results in the next couple of weeks leading into the US Open.

Norrie is next scheduled to play in Los Cabos, which takes place between 30 July to 4 August.