ATP Tour: Ruusuvuori knocks off home hope Norrie to reach second round at Eastbourne

London, June 25 (IANS) Finland’s World No. 88 Emil Ruusuvuori continued his domination of British players, extending his perfect record to 6-0 on British soil with a straight sets win against Cameron Norrie in Eastbourne on Tuesday.

The Finn, who was once ranked No. 37 in the ATP list, scored a 7-6(9), 6-3 win against Cameron Norrie in the opening round of the Rothesay International as he continued to spoil the chances of native players.

In the process, the 25-year-old Ruusuvuori snapped a five-match grass-court losing streak (including matches on the ATP Challenger Tour) by improving to 10-3 against Brits at all levels and 2-1 in his ATP head-to-head series against Norrie.

“Cam is one of the toughest players out there,” the Finn was quoted as saying by the ATP Tour after his match on Tuesday. But playing a Brit here is good. I got on centre court and just tried to enjoy it. I played a very good level today in tough moments, so it was very good.”

Ruusuvuori saved all seven break points against him, according to Infosys ATP Stats, including two as he served out the match. He also saved two set points in an extended opening-set tie-break before snatching the lone break of the match in the sixth game of set two. The Finn lost just two points on the second serve (16/18), winning those points at an 89 per cent clip in the 95-minute match.

He will next meet China’s Shang Juncheng, who beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 7-5, 3-6, 7-6(4) on Monday.

Thiago Seyboth Wild also advanced early on Tuesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Aussie John McCabe. The Brazilian saved five of six break points in the victory to set up a second-round showdown with top seed Taylor Fritz.

–IANS

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