Cameron Norrie’s title defence in Lyon ended with a one-sided loss to Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo in the semi-finals of the ATP Tour event.
More concerning than the 6-3 6-0 defeat, though, was Norrie’s physical condition, with the British number one clutching his stomach at points during the second set.
Norrie is Britain’s main hope for success at the French Open, where he is due to start his campaign on Monday against eccentric Frenchman Benoit Paire.
Not to be for Cam Norrie in Lyon
Francisco Cerundolo wins their semi-final 6-3, 6-0#BackTheBrits 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/jonb7luj9L
— LTA (@the_LTA) May 26, 2023
The 27-year-old won his fourth ATP title in Lyon last year but dropped serve in the opening game against Cerundolo and never looked like getting back into the contest.
It appeared he might retire when he headed to his bench during the opening game of the second set but Norrie did at least manage to finish the match.
Speaking afterwards, he said: “He played better than me and that showed in the score. I was disappointed with my level compared to the other two matches.
“I have had a few matches before the French Open, which is exactly what I came here to do. It was a difficult way to go out but he played better than me and deserved the win.”
Renowned for his physical prowess, Norrie must now concentrate on trying to ensure he is fully fit for the year’s second grand slam.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here