Cameron Norrie stuns 11th seed Daniil Medvedev in five-set French Open thriller

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Cameron Norrie produced a French Open upset to surprise everyone – including himself – by winning a five-set marathon against 11th seed Daniil Medvedev.

The British number three was uncharacteristically pessimistic about his chances ahead of the first-round match and with some justification, having never taken so much as a set off the Russian in their previous four meetings.

He turned the tables spectacularly by racing into a two-set lead, but then threatened to unravel as Medvedev clawed his way back into the match and led by a break in the decider.

However, Norrie showed remarkable resilience to level at 5-5 and then converted his first match point on the Medvedev serve.

The 29-year-old threw his racket high in the air after his best win in more than a year, an epic 7-5 6-3 4-6 1-6 7-5 victory in three hours and 52 minutes.

“I felt that he was a little tentative but honestly it was a crazy match,” said an elated Norrie.

“He is so tough to beat, I think I deserve a diploma for beating Medvedev because he’s beaten me the last four times. It was an unreal match.”

Medvedev, 29, is no longer the player who briefly topped the rankings in 2022, but then neither is Norrie, who was a top-10 player and Wimbledon semi-finalist the same year but is now ranked a lowly 81.

However, Norrie did reach the last four in Geneva last week – losing to eventual winner Novak Djokovic – to provide a glimpse of his old form.

An 11am start did not suit Medvedev, who freely admits to preferring to play later in the day, and he proved he is not a morning person by constantly bickering with his team in the players’ box throughout the first two sets.

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Norrie kept his cool at the other end, winning eight games in a row from 5-3 down in the opening set to leading 4-0 en route to taking the second.

Medvedev required a bandage on an injured finger but managed to steal a tight third set when he converted a solitary set point on the Norrie serve.

The former US Open champion suddenly shook off his morning malaise while Norrie flagged, the Briton winning just one point as Medvedev roared 5-0 ahead on his way to levelling the match.

Now into a fifth set for the first time since bowing out against another Russian, Pavel Kotov, at the same stage last year, Norrie was broken for 3-1 but somehow hit back for 5-5.

A brave hold and a single first match point later, Norrie had completed a stunning win to set up a second-round meeting with Argentina’s Federico Gomez.