Cameron Norrie said the Brits had no excuses as he became the fourth and final men’s player to bow out in the French Open first round.
With Andy Murray, Dan Evans and Liam Broady already out, Norrie was the last remaining British male in the draw, but he let a dominant position slip to lose 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 to world No153 Daniel Elahi Galan late last night.
Asked for a reason behind the British failures in Paris — Johanna Konta also lost her first-round match — Norrie said: “We all competed as hard as we could. I guess we came unstuck. No excuses really.”
Norrie started the preceding Grand Slam, the US Open, in scintillating fashion by knocking out No9 seed Diego Schwartzman in five sets, a result he credited to the previous Battle of the Brits tournament on home soil.
“I think it did help for the US Open — it was great for that,” he said. “It was a great event to get us going. I don’t think it has anything to do with the French Open. Everyone else had matches leading up to this.”
Heather Watson was the only Briton left in either singles draw today, with a lunchtime start against Fiona Ferro. Aside from her, British attention on the clay now rests in the doubles.
Norrie, the world No72, added: “It would have been nice to get a couple of us through to the second round. I guess we’ll just have to wait for the doubles. And it’s only ever expectations. I think we’re all competing as hard as we can and everything. We just came unstuck. It’s tough. I guess we all need to get better.”
