Cameron Norrie brings up milestone win at Barcelona Open with ‘aggressive’ performance

A straight sets win over Roberto Bautista Agut

(Getty Images)

British number one Cameron Norrie booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Barcelona Open with a straight-sets win over home favourite Roberto Bautista Agut.

Norrie secured the 200th tour-level victory of his career with a 6-4 6-3 success in one hour and 24 minutes and will face either Tomas Etcheverry or Brandon Nakashima in the last eight.

“On the score it was easy but it was a lot of tough points in there,” Norrie said in a courtside interview broadcast on Sky Sports.

“I was really pleased how I handled myself when serving for the first set.

“I had a couple of tough games at the end of the second set there and played a good game to break as well so I was very, very solid and I converted the points when I was aggressive.

“I felt like I was moving well and I was pleased with my footwork.”

Norrie gained an early break in each set and was twice immediately broken back to love, but the left-hander’s greater variety of shots and willingness to come to the net - where he won 11 of 13 points - proved critical.

Told it was his 200th win, Norrie admitted: “I didn’t know that. I know that yesterday Roberto got 400 so I’m halfway to his total. To get 400 wins is impressive and I’ll take my 200th win against a top player.

“It’s a big tournament with a lot of really good past champions so I really want to win this tournament.”

PA