Norrie knocked out Zapata Miralles, advances to his second final in a row

Cameron Norrie had a 3-set battle to defeat Bernabe Zapata Miralles in the Rio Open semifinals.

The second seed continues his good run on the South American clay. Last week, he reached the final of the Argentina Open, where he was defeated by Carlos Alcaraz. Now, he has entered another final where he hopes to win his first ATP 500.

Norrie faced Bernabe Zapata in the semifinals, who is going through a great moment in his career. The Spaniard has achieved great results in recent weeks that will take him to a historical ranking of top-45 starting next Monday. On his way to the semifinals, he defeated his compatriots Jaume Munar and Albert Ramos-Vinolas, as well as the Argentine Francisco Cerundolo.

The 27-year-old Briton dominated his rival early in the match and got two breaks to win the first set 6-2. Although everything seemed easy for Norrie, the Spaniard improved in the second set and scored an early break to go up 3-0. Holding his serve, he leveled everything at 6-3.

The final set was by far the one that brought out the best tennis from both players. Although the world No. 13 was up 4-2, Zapata Miralles prevailed in the rallies and tied the set 4-4, leading to moments of nervousness for both players. Everything had to be decided in the tie-break, and Norrie was impeccable to prevail and finally win the match 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(3).

In the match that will define the champion, Carlos Alcaraz could be found again on Norrie's path. Alcaraz will play the semifinals against the Chilean Nicolas Jarry to define the second finalist.