Cameron Norrie carries British hopes in Montreal as Andy Murray falls

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Cameron Norrie in action

Three-time champion Andy Murray has lost in straight sets in the first round of the National Bank Open as British men’s number one Cameron Norrie progressed.

Murray, who won the tournament in 2015 following earlier victories in 2009 and 2010, finally got underway against American Taylor Fritz in Tuesday evening’s feature match after they were delayed a day earlier by rain in Montreal.

The Scot was overwhelmed by the 10th seed’s power in the first set before fighting back hard in the second, with his frustration getting the better of him as he smashed his racket on the court several times.

Fritz ultimately proved too strong, his 6-1 6-3 maiden victory in Canada setting up a second-round encounter against compatriot Frances Tiafoe.

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“It’s an honour to be on the court with Andy,” Fritz said in his on-court interview.

“Just to get the chance to play him, he’s been around, he’s been dominating since before I came on Tour and basically the whole time I’ve been on Tour, so it’s an honour just to play him.

“You go through different parts of the season. Part of the hard-court season you have a good rhythm, then you go play on clay, then you go back to hard and it might not be the same,” Fritz said.

“I haven’t always played well this part of the year before the US Open, so it feels really good this year, it just seems different. I’m playing good tennis right now.

“There are a couple things I need to dial in. I think I could serve just a little bit better,” Fritz said. “But from the ground I felt great. I was being aggressive, attacking, changing [directions] off of both sides. I think I could go deep if I dial in a few things.”

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Earlier, Norrie bounced back from losing the final of the Abierto de Tenis Mifel days earlier with a 6-4 6-4 defeat of Brandon Nakashima.

The world number 11 took just one hour and 13 minutes to achieve the win and will face Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp in the second round.

Jack Draper set up an encounter against Stefanos Tsitsipas with a 6-2 6-3 victory over fellow qualifier Hugo Gaston, while British number two Dan Evans dropped a set en route to a win over Filip Krajinovic. Evans will now play Russia’s Andrey Rublev, who had a bye in the first round.

Andy Murray Cameron Norrie

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