ATP Tour

Norrie rediscovers winning touch in 'special' Los Cabos

Cameron Norrie returned to the site of one of the most memorable weeks of his career on Monday, and the familiar surroundings helped spark a much-needed turnaround at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo.

The 30-year-old Briton delivered a composed display to defeat last year's finalist Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-4, 6-1, snapping a six-match losing streak and earning his first tour-level win since April. Norrie, who captured his maiden ATP Tour title at the Mexican ATP 250 event in 2021, boasts a record 12 match wins in Los Cabos, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

"It's nice to come back to Mexico and play well tonight,” Norrie said in his on-court interview. “It’s a place where, at the beginning of my career, it was such a special tournament for me. I hadn’t had a win in a while. I had been battling some injuries and some confidence. I was a bit nervous in the match, but I stayed calm and played well in the bigger moments.”

Norrie's only opening-round defeat in Los Cabos came against Kovacevic in 2023, and he entered their clash on Monday trailing 0-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. This time, however, the Briton flipped the script to claim his first win over the American and set a meeting with qualifier Aidan Mayo or James Duckworth.

Earlier, lucky loser Bernard Tomic recorded his first tour-level hard-court victory since 2021, cruising past home favourite Alex Hernandez 6-1, 6-0 in just 46 minutes. The Australian, who lifted the ATP Challenger trophy in Lincoln earlier this month, advanced to a second-round clash with fourth seed Karen Khachanov.

In a meeting between two Los Cabos debutants, 22-year-old Coleman Wong defeated 18-year-old Darwin Blanch 6-3, 6-4 to book a second-round showdown with top seed Jiri Lehecka. Competing at a career-high No. 108 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Wong is the first player from Hong Kong to compete in the tournament.

Blanch was competing in the ATP 250 event through the PIF ATP Next Gen Accelerator, which provides additional playing opportunities for those who earn a spot in the programme by being the best up-and-coming players across junior, college or traditional pathways.

Qualifier Tristan Boyer upset Gabriel Diallo 7-5, 6-2 and will meet third third seed Francisco Cerundolo in the second round. The 25-year-old American advanced past Tomic in the second round of qualifying after the Australian withdrew ahead of their clash.