Estoril Open: Britain's Cam Norrie overcomes Marin Cilic to reach final
British No 2 Cameron Norrie will play winner of semi-final between Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina; Johanna Konta knocked out of Mutua Madrid Open, with Ash Barty and Iga Swiatek setting up third-round contest
Saturday 1 May 2021 16:43, UK
Cameron Norrie reached his second career final with victory over Marin Cilic at the Millennium Estoril Open.
The in-form Briton, who is ranked 50 in the world, edged a tight semi-final against the Croatian 7-6 (7-5) 7-5.
Cilic fired 16 aces and Norrie saved five of the six break points he faced, to beat the former world No 3 in just under two hours.
It was Norrie's 18th win of the season on the ATP Tour and it puts him within touching distance of a maiden ATP singles title. The 25-year-old's only previous final appearance came when he finished runner-up at the ASB Classic in Auckland in 2019.
In Portugal, he battled back from 3-0 down against Cilic in the first set, and then clinched victory with a break of serve in the final game of the match.
"I was really tough," Norrie said during his on-court interview. "I started a little bit slow and managed to ease my way into the match.
"I played really good at break point down and went after it. He was serving great and it was really tricky to get his first serve back. I am fortunate to get through and I am just happy to be in my second final.
"I am competing really well and I am just really happy with myself," Norrie added on the ATP's website.
"I am keeping a really consistent level, even on days [when] I am not quite feeling [my best]. I am still digging in there and making it physical and playing on my terms, being the one dictating points."
Norrie will face the winner of the all-Spanish semi-final between Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Sunday.
Johanna Konta's hopes of a prolonged run at the Mutua Madrid Open were ended, as she lost in straight sets to Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia in the second round.
Konta, who was named as the 15th seed, was beaten 6-3 6-3 in 91 minutes by the world No 58.
Although the British player made Sevastova work extremely hard during the final games of both sets, the Latvian remained composed and prayed on Konta's error count during their encounter.
"It's so tough to play against her," Sevastova said of Konta, on court after the match.
"She doesn't give you time, so I had to stay solid on my service games and try to return every serve, because she served unbelievably well today.
"I really like playing here; it suits my game very well because my second serve jumps a lot and I can dictate most points with the forehand. It's nice to see people watching tennis and I enjoy playing here."
Elsewhere in the draw, Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek are now preparing to meet each other for the first time after their victories over Tamara Zidansek and Laura Siegemund respectively.
It's a contest that Barty has described as being "real exciting" and it's clear that she's studied Swiatek's game already.
"I've hit with her once in Melbourne a few months ago," the Australian said on the WTA's website.
"She's got a seriously impressive game. Moves very well on the clay court, can slide off both legs, controls her body really well on clay. Likes to use her hopper, gets around, controls the court with her forehand.
"It's a challenge that we go into with a really clean slate, a little bit of a period of trying to figure each other out and how our games match up."
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