French Open 2023: Cameron Norrie survives Benoit Paire to edge five-set marathon
With no women in the singles draw, Dan Evans losing on day one and Jack Draper withdrawing injured earlier on Monday, there was the prospect of a repeat of 2020 when no Britons made it to round two.
But in a match high in drama but one where the quality ebbed and flowed, Norrie recovered from a break down in the fifth set to win 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.
Paire has a history for blowing hot and cold and so it proved with a brand of all or, in the case of the fourth set which he appeared to give up without a fight, nothing tennis.
He had never beaten a top-20 player at his home grand slam and had just two wins against top-20 players in the past five years.
But buoyed by a fervent home crowd, which cheered his every move and unleashed a rendition of La Marseillaise and repeated Mexican waves, he lifted his game to levels not regularly seen.
In contrast, Norrie struggled to find his rhythm for much of the match as has been the case for the European leg of the clay-court season. He repeatedly struggled with his ball toss, for which he was booed by the crowd, but his grit, determination and superior fitness eventually won out.
The fact that British hopes now rest solely on Norrie should make for worrying reading for tennis authorities back in the UK but at least the reality of a third time in a decade with no Brits in round two was avoided.
Norrie marginally deserved to take a first set which had 14 break points in all, eight for the home favourite who could only convert one, and the rest for Norrie who twice found a breakthrough.
Paire made the first break to go 4-3 ahead only for Norrie to immediately break back and a Norrie hold at 6-5 seemed to erase his opponentâs resolve and he was broken to concede a first set just shy of two minutes.
For much of the next two sets, Norrie, renowned for his consistency on tour, was undone by some bizarre shot selection. A key early turning point came in game three when both seemed to think Norrie had won the game only for the umpire to call a hindrance against the Briton for apparently shouting during the point, which seemed inaudible on court, and from there he was broken.
To his credit, he barely remonstrated and had three chances to take it immediately break back but couldnât make any of them count.
Shouts of âAllez Benoitâ reverberated around Court Suzanne Lenglen as Paire won the set and also the third leaving Norrie with a mountain to climb.
Come set four, the Paire of old came to the fore as he looked physically shattered and barely put up a fight as the set dragged on.
But any sense that Norrie might cruise to the win immediately evaporated as Norrie was broken in the opening game of the deciding set in the Parisian sunshine.
In a undulating decider which could have gone either way, Norrie forced his way back level at four apiece leaving Paire to serve to stay in the match, which he couldnât do after a little over three-and-a-half hours.
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