First clay crown delights Norrie

WHILE most of the French Open field enjoyed a hit and giggle at kids’ day in Paris yesterday, Cameron Norrie was 300 miles south putting in more serious preparation.

The British No1 won the Lyon Open yesterday for his fourth career title and will come into Roland Garros, if not as well rested as his rivals, then certainly backed by form and confidence.

He beat Slovakia’s Alex Molcan — who is coached by Novak Djokovic’s former mentor Marian Vajda — 6-3, 6-7, 6-1 to give lift off to his clay court season.

‘It’s my first title on clay. I couldn’t be happier with how I have played this week. This one feels the best so far,’ said Norrie. The 26-year-old left-hander’s ultra-consistent groundstrokes and priceless ability to chisel out close matches make him well suited to clay and should give him a fair chance of making a deep run in Paris.

His first-round match against French wildcard Manuel Guinard. Heather Watson plays another French wildcard Elsa Jacquemot and Harriet Dart has a trickier draw against Italy’s Martina Trevisan. Emma Raducanu will begin her first Roland Garros adventure against Czech qualifier Linda Noskova. Dan Evans faces Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.