Norrie Snaps Six-Match Skid With Straight-Sets Win
British No. 2 finds his footing again after a rough April-to-July stretch
By Gus "Walk-Off" Fields
Six matches without a win is a long time for a player ranked among his country's best, and Cameron Norrie knew it. On Monday, the British number two put an end to it, beating Aleksandar Kovacevic in straight sets for his first victory since April.
The details of the scoreline weren't the story here — the streak was. Slumps happen to everyone who plays this game long enough, but they don't get easier to talk about, and they don't get easier to watch from the locker room chair. Norrie's is the kind of stretch that gets picked apart in previews and pundit chatter, match after match, loss after loss.
A win over Kovacevic won't erase four months of frustration by itself. But tennis, like most sports, is built on next matches, not last ones, and Norrie now gets to walk into his next round with something he hasn't had since spring: momentum, however modest.
No further details on the tournament or Norrie's next opponent were included in the report available to us, and we won't guess at what comes next. What we know is what happened Monday — a straight-set win, and a streak that's finally over.
— Compiled from reporting by BBC Sport.
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