Norrie had lost all three of his previous matches against Norway’s Ruud, who has reached the past two French Open finals and finished runner-up at the 2022 US Open.
In the build-up to their first meeting over five sets, Norrie stressed the importance of executing better in the bigger moments if he was going to win.
Looking mentally locked in and playing aggressively, Norrie did that throughout.
He converted his first break point for a 3-1 lead and, aided by some splendid serving, fought back from 0-40 to hold for 4-2.
That laid the platform for Norrie to go on and clinch the opener, fighting off another break point before leaping into a backhand winner which he stuck away on set point.
The Briton targeted Ruud’s weaker backhand and showed he is not just a grinder from the baseline as he regularly bounded forward to finish off points.
That was key to his success.
After a tight second set which Ruud nicked in the tie-break, Norrie was broken for 3-2 in the third but continued to stick to his plan.
Going to the net helped Norrie instantly level for 3-3 and then take the lead when Ruud hit a backhand into the net on set point.
Norrie moved 3-1 ahead in the fourth, surviving a break point before holding for a 5-2 lead, and hit four more winning volleys in the final game to wrap up an impressive victory.
“I came forward a lot and volleyed really well. I was enjoying myself and I played really free,” said Norrie, who won 41 of his 56 points at the net.
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