Cameron Norrie battled previous Tomas Machac in three units to succeed in the third spherical of the Madrid Open, however fellow British hopeful Katie Boulter was crushed by fifth seed Jessica Pegula on Friday.
Norrie comfortably claimed the opening set of his encounter with Machac, however then spurned a match level within the second as his Czech oponent took him to a decider.
Norrie was then looking at defeat, a break down trailing 5-3, however the British No 1 crucially broke when Machac was serving for the match and he’d this time take the tiebreaker.
The 30-year-old prevailed 6-2 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-5), describing his victory as “one of the favourite matches” of his profession.
“I was feeling the ball really well in the first set but it was tough to hang with him in the second and I had to dig deep in the third set when I was down a break,” Norrie informed Sky Sports activities.
“It was so, so good. It was one of many favorite matches of my profession – the ambiance was so good and it examined me in so some ways.
“These are the kind of matches where you can get through them and go on to have a great week.”
Norrie will play both Thiago Agustin Tirante subsequent, after the Argentine dumped out Fifteenth-seeded American Tommy Paul.
Norrie, who reached the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open final week, has by no means earlier than made it previous the third spherical within the Madrid.
Boulter was unable to hitch Norrie within the third spherical, the 29-year-old dropping out 6-4 6-4 to fifth seed Pegula.
Boulter adopted fiance Alex De Minaur on court docket following his chastening loss to Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar and, though she put up a good combat, it was double defeat for the couple.
Elsewhere, world No 1 Jannik Sinner got here from a set right down to beat France’s Benjamin Bonzi 6-7 (6-8) 6-1 6-4 for his 18th successive victory after lifting titles at Indian Wells, the Miami Open and Monte Carlo Masters.
Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina overcame a tough begin to beat Romania’s Elena Gabriela Ruse 4-6 6-3 7-5, whereas Coco Gauff secured an emphatic 6-3 6-0 victory over Leolia Jeanjean to succeed in the third spherical.
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