Cameron Norrie is up and running on grass in 2023.
The Briton began his Cinch Championships campaign with a dominant performance on Monday, moving past Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach the second round in London.
Norrie was competing in his first match on the surface since last July, when he lost against Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon semi-finals. The fifth seed took little time to adjust, though, causing Kecmanovic problems with his flat groundstrokes.
The 27-year-old moved freely in front of a packed home crowd and sealed his 30th tour-level win of the season on his fifth match point, advancing after 85 minutes. Norrie will next face Australian Jordan Thompson or Canadian Milos Raonic, who returned to the Tour in Stuttgart last week.
“It was a tight couple of sets. I made it a bit difficult for myself but that is grass-court tennis,” Norrie said. “If you are not playing point for point you can make it difficult for yourself. I think it helped that I have played on this court before and I know what it is like on the first day, it can be quite slippery. I was trying to find good width and make him move and stay on top.”
Norrie has fond memories of playing at The Queen’s Club, having advanced to the championship match in 2021.
“It feels good,” Norrie said when asked about being back on grass. “I came straight here after Paris. I have had a couple of weeks preparation. Today’s match brought back a lot of good memories from last year on the grass.”
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Sebastian Korda overcame Briton Daniel Evans 6-4, 7-5 to earn his second win since returning to Tour in April following injury.
The American demonstrated his all-court game on the lawns of London, slicing effectively and charging the net throughout the 90-minute clash to reach the second round on tournament debut.
Korda’s best result on grass came at Wimbledon in 2021 when he advanced to the fourth round. The 22-year-old will next play Frances Tiafoe.
Ben Shelton earned victory in his first tour-level match on grass. The 20-year-old American defeated countryman J.J. Wolf 7-6(4), 7-6(2) to reach the second round.
Shelton, who rallied from a break down in the first set, has enjoyed a breakthrough season on the ATP Tour, highlighted by his quarter-final run at the Australian Open. The lefty, currently No. 34 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will next take on Lorenzo Musetti. The Italian defeated British wild card Jan Choinski 6-4, 6-2.
In other first-round action, British wild card Ryan Peniston defeated Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-2. Peniston advanced to the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event, with all five of his tour-level wins prior to Monday coming during the 2022 grass-court season. The 27-year-old next meets second seed Holger Rune or American Maxime Cressy.