Cameron Norrie close to tears after Auckland Open defeat to Richard Gasquet - 'That one hurts'
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Updated 14/01/2023 at 11:36 GMT
British tennis’ men’s No. 1 player Cameron Norrie looked set for a victory in the final of the 2023 Auckland Open on Friday night, but lost the final set and match despite being up 4-1 at the time. Speaking after his defeat to Frenchman Richard Gasquet, he admitted that it "hurt" to lose the title and he appeared close to tears in the city he grew up in.
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British tennis’ men’s No. 1 player Cameron Norrie suffered an emotionally tough defeat to Richard Gasquet at the final of the Auckland Open on Friday.
Norrie was playing in the city of his childhood, and had looked like he was on the verge of victory against the experienced Frenchman.
He was up 4-6 6-4 4-1, just two games from the title, but 36-year-old Gasquet reeled off five consecutive games to clinch victory 4-6 6-4 6-4.
The 27-year-old Briton appeared to be close to tears in his post-defeat interview.
He said: “That one hurts. I wanted that one really bad.
“But all credit to Richard, you hung in there and played better than me. Definitely deserved it today. Well done.
“I have had an amazing week, coming to Auckland, the tournament where I grew up. I have a lot of friends and family here, everyone supporting me, which has been great.
“I really wanted to win the title. This changes nothing, it makes me more hungry and hopefully I can be back and get the title next year.”
Norrie is due to take part in the Australian Open on Monday for the first Grand Slam of the season, where he will play another Frenchman, wildcard Luca van Assche.
While his display in Auckland is an example of his recent good form, he has suffered four first-round defeats in the last five years at the Open, but last year did well at major events.
In 2022 he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals, as well as reaching the fourth round of the US Open.
Norrie has been the top-ranked British player in men’s singles since October 2021 and has a few titles to his name. He won the 2021 Indian Wells Masters. He beat Georgian opponent Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6 6-4 6-1, as well a defeating Reilly Opelka in the Delray Beach Open final last year, and has two other titles to his name.
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