A beautiful rise

Norrie has climbed back up a long way in the rankings and Quinn is constantly improving; getting the chance to make the quarterfinals in an ATP 500 makes sense for both players.

Norrie once again scared himself in the first round; he was calmly leading 6/4 5/4 and still had to go through a nerve‑wracking third set to get past Wawrinka, not a great match. Physically he says he was tired, which is something usual for him: it’s like in Slams/Masters 1000 he’s a war machine with huge focus, then in the smaller tournaments his level drops along with everything else, it all goes together. I don’t know if you can call it motivation, but it’s clear he showed some nerves again here, we’ll be keeping an eye on this second round.

Upcoming match against Quinn, who came through qualifying and just beat Opelka. Nothing incredible so far, but he’s in interesting form since his title in Phoenix; he’s winning more and more matches and his level on clay is quite convincing compared to what you might think at first glance. His forehand is heavy, his kick serve is interesting, and the extra time he gets on this surface lets him set his feet and hit big. It’s no coincidence that last year he had already shown some good things on the dirt.

First meeting between the two; Norrie is still the favorite on this surface and, with his lefty game, if he manages to lock Quinn into the backhand side he’ll have a huge advantage. On the other hand, Quinn’s offensive style and current confidence make him a serious outsider in this match, and the value is more on his side.