Cameron Norrie crashes to straight-sets defeat at Indian Wells by Tommy Paul
It has been three and a half years since Cameron Norrie departed the Indian Wells Tennis Garden having shocked his sport by winning one of its most important trophies,A rise into the top 10 of the ATP rankings and a Wimbledon semi-final followed soon after,Despite two extremely positive earlier performances during the past week in the desert, Norrie remains a considerable distance from reproducing his success of old,The 29-year-old was outclassed in the third round of Indian Wells by the No 10 seed Tommy Paul, whose greater weapons and confidence in the decisive moments earned him a 6-3, 7-5 win,After avery difficult season last year, where he missed three months because of an arm injury after struggling with his form for most of the time, Norrie has struggled to find his momentum again, falling to No 77 in the rankings.
Still, there have recently been glimmers of hope,He reached the third round this week by playing some of his best tennis in more than a year and his second-round win against the No 24 Jiri Lehecka marked his first top-25 victory since the Australian Open last year,Although both players struggled early on, Paul eventually took control, breaking up the lengthy, attritional exchanges Norrie tried to drag him into with his greater weight of shot and determination to close down the end,Norrie fought hard until the finish, pulling himself back into the match in set two by retrieving Paul’s break with a run of 10 successive points,However, Norrie’s lack of confidence in many of the decisive moments was summed up by the final game of the match.
Down 6-5, he served three double faults, including one on match point,This time, Norrie will leave Indian Wells with far more modest gains,He has made genuine progress this week, but there is a long path before him as he tries to find his way back towards the top of the game,Sign up to The RecapThe best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend’s actionafter newsletter promotionMeanwhile, the British No 1 Katie Boulter lost 6-0, 7-5 to the seventh seed Elena Rybakina in the third round,After being thoroughly outplayed in the opening set, Boulter fought hard and gradually imposed herself on the 2023 champion.
She served for the second set at 5-4 but Rybakina won the last three games.Boulter, the 25th seed, was competing for the first time since the Australian Open after nursing a foot injury throughout February.
‘Devastated’ England wait for test results after Ollie Lawrence injury
England stayed in the chase for the Six Nations title with a bonus-point victory against Italy but lost Ollie Lawrence to an achilles injury that threatens his hopes of touring Australia with the British & Irish Lions.Steve Borthwick’s side scored seven tries as they overwhelmed the Azzurri after a close first half in sunny south-west London, with the fly-half Fin Smith orchestrating the attack impressively.But Lawrence went down injured and the Bath centre was taken off after nine minutes, bringing Marcus Smith off the replacements’ bench much earlier than expected.“We’ll know more in the next 48 hours when he has the scans and he sees a specialist,” Borthwick said of Lawrence. “Fingers crossed it’s not quite as severe as we fear it might be
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The second half was barely a minute old. If you couldn’t see the scoreboard you could tell by those swathes of empty seats. It was a hot day after all and refreshments were still being swilled. Italy were not bothered, however. They were on the attack, parked in England’s 22 and when the fly-half Paolo Garbisi found the outside, a try, and with it the lead, looked a certainty
Antoine Dupont faces long spell out with ruptured cruciate knee ligaments
Antoine Dupont, France’s talismanic captain and the player widely considered to be the best on the planet, has said that he ruptured cruciate ligaments in his right knee during his team’s win against Ireland in the Six Nations on Saturday.“The heart hurts even more than the knee when you have to leave your friends before the last step,” Dupont posted on Sunday on Instagram. “I am proud of what we accomplished yesterday and with all my strength with you, you will do it. Rupture of the cruciate ligaments. This is the beginning of a new challenge, I’ll see you in a few months on the field
England 47-24 Italy: Six Nations player ratings from Twickenham
Elliot Daly Fully justified selection with evasive running and perceptive kicking. An assured presence in the back field. 8/10Tommy Freeman Sloppy pass to start but effective overall and took try well. Made his power count. 7Ollie Lawrence A silky offload during England’s first attack, but day cut short by an achilles injury
England 47-24 Italy: Six Nations 2025 – as it happened
“It wasn’t perfect by any means,” says Jamie George who raised his bat for a 100 caps for his country today.He played well. Earlier in the week he said he wasn’t sure if his England career was over after he lost the armband, but he stood up well.Hopefully he’ll read Rob Kitson’s report that has just landed. I hope you do as well
India beat New Zealand by four wickets to win Champions Trophy – as it happened
I’d say that’s enough from me. Many congratulations again to India, a wonderful side packed with class and clutch all-rounders. New Zealand, it’ll happen eventually.I should add, my criticism of the tournament’s shape is not a pop at the players in that India side. Rohit Sharma remains remarkable at the top of the order – proved today – while that was an outstanding display from the spinners in the first innings
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Cameron Norrie crashes to straight-sets defeat at Indian Wells by Tommy Paul