Holger Rune hands Norrie a costly defeat in Stockholm

Cameron Norrie is fighting for the ATP Finals and he needs points which is why this loss to Rune in Stockholm is quite costly 7-6(4) 3-6 3-6.

Norrie played as an alternate in Turin last year but he wanted to earn a proper qualification this year. Not getting Wimbledon semi-final points hurt his chances significantly but other players suffered the same fate so the playing felt evened out.

Getting COVID in Korea and missing that event and Tokyo wasn't ideal either and neither was today's match against Rune. Norrie actually took the opening set despite losing an early 4-2 lead. We went into the tiebreak and Norrie proved a bit calmer winning 7-4.

The second set was one where Rune played much better. The courts allow players to win winners if they risk that type of play and Rune was able to do plenty of that in the second set. Norrie was simply unable to maintain the rallies on a high level against Rune who loosened up and it worked in his favour.

The final set was superb from Rune as well as he was once more able to win plenty of winners which proved crucial towards the end when he broke his opponent. He posted a 24-8 winner-error stat line in the last two sets which highlights clearly how well he played.