‘Not easy’ but Britain’s Norrie advances in Metz

Valentin Royer defeated Cameron Norrie to advance to the Moselle Open second round, but Jacob Fearnley, a fellow Brit, suffered an early exit in Athens.

The in-form Royer, who had dominated a second-set tie-break, led the way for the 27-year-old Norrie, who won 6-3, 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 after the French open.

Norrie, the second-ranked British player, won the Moselle Open final last year and said it was his biggest career victory last week over then-world number one Carlos Alcaraz.

In his quest for his first ATP Tour title since 2023, he next faces Arthur Cazaux, a native of his own.

Norrie remarked, “The entire match was not easy.

“Royer’s] first full year on the tour is almost in the top 50,” he said. I had to work hard.

Lorenzo Sonego defeated Jan Choinski of Great Britain at the same tournament earlier in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss.

With the eighth and final place still to be decided at the season-ending ATP Finals, Lorenzo Musetti’s progress will receive a lot of attention in Athens.

The ninth-ranked Musetti must win the title in order to advance to the Finals after world number eight Auger-Aliassime was forced to withdraw from the Moselle Open with a left knee injury.

Elena Rybakina becomes the first woman to reach the semi-finals on Monday in Riyadh as part of the ongoing WTA Finals.

Five British players will aim for success in the doubles competition on Sunday in Turin for the men’s Finals.

In earlier this month, Henry Patten, who plays with Finland’s Harri Heliovaara, and Lloyd Glasspool and Julian Cash, Joe Salisbury and Neal Skupski, were all ranked in the top ten.