Cam Norrie outlasted Tomas Machac to achieve the Wimbledon second spherical after the Czech qualifier suffered cramping in his hand. Sporting a brand new quick haircut, the British No.1 raced to the primary set underneath the Courtroom One roof in his first match right here since dropping within the semi-finals final 12 months.
World No.108 Machac then relaxed on his Wimbledon debut and his aggressive serve-and-volley ways noticed him stage the match at one set all.
The Czech then dropped the third set in solely 24 minutes whereas affected by cramp earlier than remedy noticed him rally however Norrie lastly received 6-Three 4-6 6-1 6-4.
Norrie, who misplaced within the quarter-finals at Queen’s Membership, should be extra ruthless if he needs to go deep right here once more after taking solely seven of his 21 break factors in opposition to a 22-year-old who has by no means received a Tour-level match on grass.
Norrie had comfortably taken the primary set by breaking the Czech to like within the fifth recreation to steer 3-2. He went 5-Three up with a superb backhand go down the road and took his third set level with a pulverising forehand down the road after solely 34 minutes.
However the world No.108 then discovered his type within the largest match of his life to interrupt Norrie twice within the second set. Norrie saved two set factors on his personal serve at 3-5 earlier than Machac took his fourth set level within the subsequent recreation when the British No.1 hit a backhand return into the web.
However the No.12 seed then re-established management of the competition within the 24-minute third set as Machac suffered cramps. At 1-Four down, the Czech dropped his racket in ache on the finish of an extended rally for Norrie to get the double break. And the world No.108 didn’t even chase the ball down on the world No.13’s first set level.
Machac left the courtroom for 5 minutes on the finish of the third set – and was given power gels and salts – and returned to interrupt Norrie, who had misplaced his focus, to steer 2-0.
Within the subsequent recreation he produced a Boris Becker-style diving volley which bounced on Norrie’s courtroom after which span again throughout the web to nice applause. However Norrie nonetheless obtained the break again with a forehand winner when Machac slipped on the baseline.
The match was settled at 4-Four when a framed Norrie return dropped in courtroom and he took his second break level when Machac’s 72nd enterprise into the web ended with a forehand volley into the web. Norrie took his second match level at 7.40pm.