Cameron Norrie fights back against Facundo Diaz Acosta to seal place in quarter-finals of Argentina Open
Cameron Norrie lost the first set and needed tie-breaks in the next two to beat wildcard Facundo Diaz Acosta in a three-set epic; the British no 1 will face Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the next round
Thursday 16 February 2023 10:06, UK
Cameron Norrie is through to the quarter-finals of the Argentina Open after beating wildcard Facundo Diaz Acosta in a nervy three-set battle.
The British No 1 required three hours to record a 4-6 7-5 7-6 win at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club and fought back valiantly in the third-set tiebreaker.
Both players struggled to land first serves in the opening set, with Norrie double-faulting on the first point of his opening service game before managing to hold.
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Acosta and Norrie serve four double faults between them in the first four games, but the Argentine gained the upper hand, firing five consecutive aces to hold to love at 4-3.
He had two break points in the next game, but Norrie held serve before coming unstuck in the 10th game to lose the first set.
In the second set, both players missed two break points in the first two games, and it looked like Norrie was facing an early exit when he was broken in the fourth game.
He missed two chances to break back straight away, but fought on the third chance before holding the nerve to level things up.
Acosta broke Norrie against to go one game away from winning the match, but Norrie dug deep to win four games in a row to force a deciding third set.
Norrie struck first in the first set to go 2-1 up, before Acosta broke back to take the decider to a tie-break.
Despite earning the mini-break and going 4-1 up, Acosta could not see out a memorable win over the Wimbledon semi-finalist, who recovered to book his place in the quarter-finals against Tomas Martin Etcheverry.