Cameron Norrie and Katie Boulter come through in three sets to reach the second round of the Miami Open on Wednesday but Heather Watson was unable to make it a hat-trick of wins for British wins after she went out
Thursday 25 March 2021 09:42, UK
Cameron Norrie produced a dramatic comeback to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka in the first round of the Miami Open, while Katie Boulter upset Kristyna Pliskova.
British No 2 Norrie battled back in the deciding set to defeat Japan's Nishioka 6-1 3-6 7-5, while Boulter beat Czech Pliskova 4-6 6-3 6-3.
Heather Watson was unable to make it a hat-trick of wins for British players in Miami after she was knocked out in straight sets by Serbia's Nina Stojanovic.
Norrie had coasted through the first set, recovering from losing the opening service game to break Nishioka three times.
However, Nishioka, the world No 66, rallied in the second set, with Norrie guilty of some unforced errors after losing his serve at 2-2 and again to trail 5-3.
Norrie, ranked 56 in the world, was soon up against it in the decider as Nishioka broke twice to take a commanding 5-1 lead and seemed on course for victory.
However, the 25-year-old then produced his own fightback to level the set at 5-5 with another break before clinching a sixth straight game, once more against the Nishioka serve, to progress in two hours and 16 minutes.
Norrie will play ninth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
Boulter served up 11 double faults against Pliskova but she outplayed her opponent in the deciding set to make it through to a meeting against Belgium's world No 17 Elise Mertens.
Both women struggled to hold onto their service games in the opening set, which the world No 78 eventually closed out.
Boulter, who went out in the first round at the Abierto GNP Seguros in Monterrey, started a fightback to move 4-1 ahead with a break midway through the second set and forced a decider.
The 24-year-old continued her momentum with an early break and hold to lead 3-1, before eventually taking a fourth match point as Pliskova's serve again failed to stand up following a run of double faults.
Watson will not join Boulter in the second round after being beaten 6-4 6-1 by Nina Stojanovic.
The 65th-ranked Brit was left to rue some costly early errors as she dropped the first set before Stojanovic blew her off the court in the second.
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