Top seeds Carlos Alcaraz and Cameron Norrie won semifinal matches on Saturday to set up their second straight final at the Rio Open. (More Tennis News)
🐻Alcaraz worked hard to beat Nicolas Jarry 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-0 on Saturday. Hours earlier, Cameron Norrie topped Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3). They will meet in Sunday’s title match.
﷽The top-seeded players in the clay court tournament also clashed last weekend in the final of the Argentina Open, which Alcaraz won in straight sets.
♐Alcaraz dropped only his second set in the Rio Open tournament against Jarry.
꧟The 19-year-old Spaniard was in trouble with the Chilean’s effective service in the first two sets, but showed he had more energy in the third.
🔯Alcaraz blanked Jarry in the final set with a dominant performance.
༺Norrie will play his third final of the year. He needed 2 1/2 hours to beat Zapata Miralles. In the deciding set, Norrie saved a break point in the fifth game, broke the Spaniard in the sixth but was forced to a tiebreak. His stronger first service made the difference.
🗹“I tried to finish the points a little bit too early. I was a bit overconfident,” Norrie said.
𝓀Asked what he needs to do differently from the finals in Buenos Aires and Auckland, which he lost to Alcaraz and Richard Gasquet, Norrie said: “I have to play better in the big moments.”
♔Norrie currently leads the tour in wins in 2023, with 17 victories and three losses.
