Norrie’s title wait continues as ‘challenging’ year ends in final loss

Britain’s Cameron Norrie was unable to finish a frustrating season with a trophy as he lost to France’s Benjamin Bonzi in the Moselle Open final.

Hunting his first ATP title since February 2023, 29-year-old Norrie was beaten 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 by the home favourite in Metz.

Norrie was playing in only his fourth tournament back on the main tour, having missed almost three months with a forearm injury.

“It would have been nice to win the tournament, but finding my level and competitive spirit on the court was the highlight of the week,” said Norrie.

The former world number eight has dropped out of the top 50 as a result of the enforced absence.

Earlier this year, he also lost his status as the British men’s number one to rising star Jack Draper.

Having described the season as “challenging”, Norrie’s run to the 15th ATP final of his career is a positive which he will hope to build on going into 2025.

“I’m not so worried about the result [of the final],” added Norrie, who will rise back to 50th in the rankings on Monday.

“It was about playing matches in a row with consistency, feeling like myself and fighting for every point.

“It’s been a tough year. I wasn’t able to gain any momentum, but I’ve learned a lot.”

Bonzi might only be ranked 124th in the world, but he has been on a hot streak which has led to the first title of his career at the age of 28.

Norrie paid the price for not taking his chances – particularly in a tight first set where he converted only one of 13 break points.

A mammoth ninth game saw the British number two create 10 opportunities on Bonzi’s serve, but his opponent demonstrated the same resilience he had shown all week to hold on.

Bonzi then edged the set on a tie-break and maintained momentum to clinically break early in the second set.

Norrie’s aggressive returning became more wayward as he tried to recover, meaning he was unable to apply any more serious pressure on Bonzi’s serve.

Serving out for the title at 5-4, the Frenchman showed no sign of tension as he hit an ace out wide to set up championship point before sealing victory.

“It was a really high-level match, there was nothing in it,” added Norrie. “He played better in the bigger moments.”

At the Belgrade Open, Canada’s Denis Shapovalov also ended a long wait for an ATP title by beating Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic in the final.

Shapovalov, 25, has been out of the top 100 for most of the season after a knee injury, but lifted his first trophy since 2019 with a 6-4 6-4 victory.