Britain’s Cameron Norrie is “pumped” at the prospect of facing world number one Carlos Alcaraz in the second round of the Paris Masters after beating Sebastian Baez in straight sets.
The world number 31 beat Argentine Baez, ranked 12 places below him, 6-3 6-4 in a match which featured six breaks of serve.
Fellow Briton Jacob Fearnley, 24, was less fortunate in the French capital, losing 6-1 6-4 to Russian 12th seed Andrey Rublev.
Norrie won the opening three games before having his serve broken to 15 as Baez pulled it back to 3-3.
However, the 30-year-old regrouped to win the next three games, converting his second set point.
Norrie threatened to throw away a 3-0 lead again in the second set, saving a break point in the sixth game, and later saved four more in the 10th game before closing out the match at the first opportunity.
“I was really tight going to serve for the match. I said I was going to pretend it was 0-30 and then it was 0-30 and 0-40,” Norrie told Sky Sports.
“It was about getting the job done and it was nice to face some adversity. It was not a typical match. He fought well.”
Norrie will meet Alcaraz, who exited last year’s tournament in the third round, on Tuesday, with the Spaniard playing his first match on tour since beating Taylor Fritz in the Japan Open final at the end of September.
Alcaraz has won five of their seven meetings, most recently beating Norrie in straight sets in this year’s Wimbledon quarter-finals.
Later on Centre Court, Fearnley struggled to make a dent in Rublev’s game as the Briton was hindered by 11 double faults compared to the Rublev’s two.
Fearnley was ranked outside the world’s leading 500 players little over a year ago, but has soared up the rankings – cracking the top 50 in June.
However, by his own admission his form has been affected by nerves, particularly when serving, and he has subsequently slipped to 78th.
The issue proved decisive against Rublev, who broke Fearnley’s serve on five occasions to wrap up the victory after 78 minutes on court.
The world number 17 will face American Learner Tien in the next round after the 19-year-old beat Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-2 7-6 (9-7).
