Miami Open: Cameron Norrie beats compatriot Jack Draper to reach third round

2 years ago 29

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Cameron Norrie came out on top in an all-British meeting against Jack Draper to reach the Miami Open third round.

British number one Norrie was made to work hard to beat world number 146 Draper 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

Norrie will face either John Isner or Hugo Gaston next as he bids to reach the fourth round for the first time.

"I had a little bit of nerves - I was a big favourite against a young Brit. I'm excited to see how he's going to do in the future," Norrie told Amazon Prime.

The two last met at Queens in July, where Norrie also won in straight sets.

However Draper, who struggled with heat exhaustion at last year's Miami Open, has won three titles on the Challenger tour this season and registered a first-round win over veteran Gilles Simon.

The 20-year-old fought back from a break down in the opening set before Norrie upped his aggression at the net to take it on a tie-break.

Norrie's experience showed in the second as he staved off three break points in his opening service game before breaking Draper at the first chance.

Draper was given a warning for ball abuse after being broken but continued to pressure Norrie's serve, forcing his opponent to save another four break points in the next game.

However, Norrie was able to close out victory to move closer to breaking into the top 10.

He is currently behind Italy's Jannik Sinner, who is the defending champion in Miami, and last week's Indian Wells winner Taylor Fritz.

"It's not easy against Jack. He's such a big talent and hits the ball big on both sides," Norrie added.

"The court surprised me a little bit as it was very slow out there. I managed to play the bigger points a little bit better than he did and that was the difference in the end."

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