Daniil Medvedev melts down as Russian falls to Cameron Norrie at first hurdle of French Open
Former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia paid the price for an early meltdown as he stumbled out of the French Open with a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 first-round defeat by Britain's Cameron Norrie on Tuesday.
Medvedev's composure disintegrated as he surrendered eight consecutive games after opening a 3-1 lead in the first set, his frustration boiling over in a series of animated gestures towards his bewildered coaching team.
With the vocal support of the Simonne-Mathieu court crowd, however, the 2021 US Open champion found his groove despite the windy conditions to win the third set and bag the fourth easily after claiming a remarkable 16 consecutive points.
Norrie, who reached the semi-finals at the Geneva Open last week, was out of ideas on how to outwit the elastic Medvedev, who broke for 2-1 in the decider with a lightning-fast passing shot.
The Briton, however, found the resources to break back before wrapping up victory on his first match point to hand 11th seed Medvedev his sixth first-round loss at Roland Garros.
Cameron Norrie celebrates his victory over Daniil Medvedev on Court Simonne-Mathieu. Photo: AFP
'It was a great atmosphere, I felt a lot of energy. It was a crazy match, I deserve a diploma for beating him since he beat me the past four, five times,' said Norrie, who entered the match with a 0-4 win-loss record against the Russian.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTHK
14 hours ago
- RTHK
Spaun grabs US Open lead as Scheffler, McIlroy falter
Spaun grabs US Open lead as Scheffler, McIlroy falter Spaun notched his lowest round in nine major championship starts. Photo: Reuters J.J. Spaun matched the best first round in a US Open at Oakmont to grab a one-stroke lead after 18 holes while Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy were among many stars who struggled. Spaun defied Oakmont's fearsome reputation by conjuring a bogey-free, four-under par 66 – his lowest round in nine major championship starts. The 34-year-old American equaled the lowest first round of any US Open at Oakmont, a 66 by American Andrew Landry in 2016, producing only the eighth bogey-free US Open round at the Pennsylvania club hosting for a record 10th time. "I'm just overly pleased with how I started," Spaun said. "I hit a lot of good shots and tried to capitalise on any birdie opportunities, which aren't very many out here." "But I scrambled really well, too, which is a huge component to playing well at a US Open, let alone shoot a bogey-free round," he added. Spaun started on the back nine, birdied four of his first eight holes, then parred his way to the clubhouse, his first-nine 31 a best for an Oakmont US Open. "This is probably one of my better putting rounds all season," Spaun said. He salvaged pars after finding the Church Pew bunker at the fourth hole and a bunker at the sixth. "Those are huge, especially at a US Open, to keep your round going and not go the other way," Spaun said. South African Thriston Lawrence was second on 67 with South Koreans Kim Si-woo and Im Sung-jae on 68 with five-time major winner Brooks Kopeka. "I definitely think it was gettable," Koepka said of the course. American Koepka sank a 42-foot eagle putt at the fourth, made bogeys at the 10th and 14th holes then closed with back-to-back birdies from five feet at 17 and 16 feet at 18. "I played pretty consistent, drove it really well," Koepka said. "Iron play was pretty good. When I did miss it, I felt like I missed it in the correct spots." World number one Scheffler, trying to win back-to-back majors after taking the PGA Championship in May, endured a roller-coaster round of 73 with three birdies and six bogeys – his worst opening major round to par. "I made some silly mistakes out there," Scheffler said. "But at the same time, I made some key putts and some good momentum saves – overall just need to be a little sharper." Scheffler, whose nine wins last year included Paris Olympic gold, has won three of his past four starts. Second-ranked McIlroy, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning the Masters, shot 74. The back-nine starter birdied 11 and 12 but made four bogeys and a double bogey on his second nine. Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau shot 73 with five bogeys and two birdies. "Pretty disappointed with how I played," DeChambeau said. Six-time US Open runner-up Phil Mickelson, who turns 55 on Monday, opened with a 74 in his bid to complete a career Grand Slam. Im briefly had the solo lead at five-under but three bogeys in his last seven holes derailed him. "I played five-under but ended up at two-under," Im said. "I planned to shoot under par, so I made the goal." Two-time major winner Jon Rahm was in a pack on 69. "I'm extremely happy," the Spaniard said. "I played some incredible golf to shoot one-under." American Patrick Reed made the fourth albatross in US Open history with a three-wood from the fairway from 286 yards on the fourth hole – the first at any major since Nick Watney in the 2012 US Open at Olympic Club. "Just happened to be a perfect spot, perfect club," Reed said. "For it to go obviously is a bonus." Ireland's Shane Lowry holed out from 160 yards out in the fairway for the first US Open eagle at Oakmont's third hole, but it was his lone bright spot in shooting 79. American Maxwell Moldovan made the first US Open eagle at the first, holing out from the fairway from 189 yards, then looking to the heavens with a smile. He fired a 76. (AFP)
South China Morning Post
18 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
24 Hours of Le Mans: Hong Kong drivers set for ‘ultimate test for man and machine'
Two Hong Kong racing drivers are set to make their debut at the gruelling 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race on Saturday, an event branded 'the ultimate test for man and machine'. Both drivers will battle it out in the LMGT3 category, with Jonathan Hui Kin-tak driving a Ferrari 296 and Antares Au behind the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 R. Le Mans is a 24-hour endurance race where teams of three drivers aim to cover the longest possible distance on the historic Circuit de la Sarthe in France, starting at 4pm local time. 'Not only are you having to battle people within your own category, but one of the biggest challenges of Le Mans is also managing how to let faster cars in different categories go through,' Hui said. 'At Le Mans, the hypercars are doing well over 300 kilometres per hour, and when I'm going flat out at 280, those cars are whipping by at incredibly high speeds.' Antares Au (second from left) and Jonathan Hui (second from right). Photo: CBR Media Hui has competed in more than 10 endurance races throughout his career, and despite describing himself as someone who has never been able to 'pull all-nighters', he was not concerned about getting behind the wheel without a good night's sleep behind him.
South China Morning Post
19 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Different sides of Hong Kong shown in Tran Anh Hung's critical flop I Come with the Rain
This is the latest instalment in a feature series reflecting on instances of East meets West in world cinema, including China-US co-productions. Sometimes an outsider's perspective can tell you more about a place than you might expect. This is especially true for Hong Kong – a city of endless comings and goings – and the filmmakers who chose it as a location. Vietnamese-French director Tran Anh Hung made waves with his 1993 debut The Scent of Green Papaya, which won the Caméra d'Or at Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for best foreign language film at the Oscars. His follow-up, 1995's Cyclo, co-starred Hong Kong's own Tony Leung Chiu-wai Having established himself on the world stage, Tran attracted some big names for his fourth film, the 2009 art-house thriller I Come with the Rain, which stars Josh Hartnett ( Oppenheimer ) alongside Japanese pop icon Takuya Kimura, South Korean star Lee Byung-hun and Hong Kong's Shawn Yue Man-lok. Play
