Cameron Norrie marked his return to the Delray Beach Open with a hard-fought win on Monday.
The 29-year-old Briton notched a 7-5, 6-4 victory over qualifier Zachary Svajda to advance to the second round in his first appearance at the ATP 250 since he won the title in 2022. Norrie battled through a pendulum-swinging contest, which featured eight breaks of serve, to seal an 88-minute victory in windy conditions in Florida.
“[I’m] very satisfied, it was my first match outdoors in a while,” said Norrie, who improved to 9-3 in Delray Beach. “I was pretty nervous coming in, not moving my feet that well, but I’m pretty happy with how I finished both of the sets, playing my best level. That’s what counted."
In 2023 and 2024, Norrie opted to travel to South America for the clay-court swing. Two years ago he reached the final at the ATP 250 in Buenos Aires and won the ATP 500 title in Rio de Janeiro.
“I’m skipping the clay this year," Norrie added. "I was hoping it was going to be slightly easier conditions here, but it wasn’t… I was swinging just as much as I would in South America, but it’s nice to be on the hard courts and nice to get a win after a tough match.”
Norrie is one of four former champions in the Delray Beach field this week, along with Taylor Fritz, Kei Nishikori and Reilly Opelka. The former No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings will next face either Arthur Rinderknech or Gabriel Diallo in the second round.
In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Svajda, Norrie squandered a break lead in both sets, but remained resolute to outlast the qualifier in many of the longer exchanges. The Briton used the windy conditions to his advantage and was able to use his heavy topspin forehand to force errors from the American.
Sixth seed Brandon Nakashima made a good start to his first Delray Beach Open since 2022. The 23-year-old surged past Japanese qualifier James Trotter 7-6(2), 6-1.
Nakashima is up to No. 41 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, six spots from his career high. The home favourite will play a countryman, Christopher Eubanks or Reilly Opelka, in the second round.
American Ethan Quinn suffered the disappointment of falling in the final round of qualifying Sunday. But after getting into the main draw as a lucky loser, the 20-year-old took full advantage of his opportunity.
The 2023 NCAA singles champion battled past American qualifier Tristan Boyer 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) in three hours and 12 minutes. Quinn saved 12 of the 14 break points he faced to set a showdown with fifth seed Marcos Giron.
Earlier, seventh seed Miomir Kecmanovic produced a convincing display to oust Borna Gojo 6-4, 6-4 in just 70 minutes. The 25-year-old, who reached the Delray Beach final in 2023, won 86 per cent (32/27) of first-serve points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
In other action, American qualifier Michael Mmoh defeated Kazakhstan's Alexander Shevchenko 7-5, 7-6(5). It is the second consecutive week Mmoh has qualified and won a main draw match as the 27-year-old continues his comeback from an elbow injury.
