Rio Open: Norrie sets up semi-final clash against Zapata Miralles

The second seed beat Hugo Dellien 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Friday and is one win away from his second final in as many weeks

Cameron Norrie at the 2023 Rio Open Image Credit: AI/Reuters/Panoramic

Tennis Majors

February 24, 2023

Rio Open presented by Claro •Quarter-final • completed

See draw

H. DellienvsC. Norrie

Second seed Cameron Norrie reached the semi-finals of the Rio Open by edging out Hugo Dellien 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 at the Jockey Club Brasileiro in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.

Norrie, ranked No 13, will face Bernabe Zapata Miralles next. The Spaniard defeated No 7 seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas in another quarter-final. This will be the first meeting on the tour between Norrie and Zapata Miralles.

Sweet Sixteen!@cam_norrie overcomes Dellien 4-6 6-1 6-4 for his 16th win of 2023 – punching his ticket to the #RioOpen semis 🫡 pic.twitter.com/5I0yQv8f7g
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 24, 2023

“I didn’t start too well, was missing a lot of returns and not making points physical like I wanted to,” Norrie said after his win as quoted by the ATP Tour. “[After the first set] I needed to be patient with myself. I’m not sure what happened but I didn’t make a lot of returns and missed a couple of first balls on my serve, which is uncharacteristic. I just hung in there and stepped it up when I needed to.”

The left-handed Norrie, who reached the finals in Buenos Aires last week, had beaten Argentine lucky loser Juan Manuel Cerundolo (7-5, 6-1) and Brazilian Thiago Monteiro (7-5, 7-5) in the previous rounds of the tournament.

Earlier in the tournament, Dellien, ranked No 111, won against Portuguese João Sousa (6-0, 6-2) and Slovak Alex Molcan, the No 9 seed (1-6, 6-2, 6-2).

Rio de Janeiro ATP500, other quarter-final results (Jockey Club Brasileiro, clay, USD 2.013.940, most recent results first):