Monte Carlo Masters: Cameron Norrie crashes out in opening round to Francisco Cerundolo in Monaco

Cameron Norrie crashed out of the Monte Carlo Masters in the opening round with a straight-sets defeat to Francisco Cerundolo.

The Brit lost 6-3 6-4 as he was blown away by Cerundolo’s 24 winners in a match lasting one hour and 11 minutes.

Norrie kicked off the European clay-court season as the 11th seed in Monte Carlo, but suffered a second consecutive opening-match tournament exit after losing to Gregoire Barrere at the Miami Open in March.

But world No. 33 Cerundolo, a quarter-finalist in Miami, proved too strong.

The Argentinean landed four aces to Norrie’s one and won 90% of his first serve points, while his impressive tally of winners was more than double Norrie’s 10.

Cerundolo got off to the perfect start by immediately breaking Norrie, winning every point on the Brit’s opening service game, before holding serve for a 3-0 lead.

Norrie broke back at 4-3 to put the opening set back on serve, but Cerundolo then converted the second of two break points in the following game to restore his advantage before serving out a 33-minute opening set.

Both players were forced to save break points early in the second set, but the dam eventually burst when Cerundolo took his second chance to break at 5-4, winning a game lasting almost six minutes before keeping his cool to serve out the match.

Cerundolo will face Maxime Cressy or Matteo Berrettini in the second round, with a potential last 16 clash with sixth seed Holger Rune awaiting the winner.

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