Norrie claws into Metz final with gritty resolve
From a set down, Cameron Norrie turns the semifinal tide against Lorenzo Sonego, earning a shot at redemption in the Moselle Open title match against surging teen Learner Tien.
Under the Metz lights, Cameron Norrie rediscovered his fight in a semifinal that echoed the season’s relentless push-pull. The British left-hander absorbed an early setback, dropping the first set 4-6 to Lorenzo Sonego’s aggressive baseline fire, but regrouped with a commanding 6-2 second. In the decider, he hammered at the door, converting his sixth break point in the 10th game for a 6-4 edge that sent the crowd into a frenzy, their cheers fueling his free-flowing strokes.
Season’s scars sharpen comeback edge
Norrie’s path mirrored his 2024 runner-up finish here, but this return carried the weight of a resurgent half-year. After sinking to No. 91 in May, he has surged to No. 27 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, on track for a top-30 close through deep runs that tested his composure. A semifinal in Geneva built early momentum, followed by a fourth-round charge at Roland Garros, where his lefty angles disrupted clay-court rhythms.
His quarterfinal run at Wimbledon amplified that grit, blending slice approaches with crosscourt rallies to extend points. The peak arrived last week at the Paris Masters, where he stunned Carlos Alcaraz—his career’s boldest upset—using precise one–two combinations off the serve to redirect blistering pace. Now in his 16th tour-level final and first since last year’s Metz defeat, the 30-year-old seventh seed chases a sixth title, his last in Rio de Janeiro back in 2023.
“Always a battle when I play Lorenzo, I have a lot of respect for him,” Norrie said. “He is so passionate about tennis and he showed that he came to fight and we both fought today and I was really happy with my level in the third set. I was playing free and had a lot of support from the crowd.”
Tactical layers meet indoor swiftness
The Moselle Open‘s indoor hard courts amplified Norrie’s adjustments, their low bounce favoring his flat groundstrokes and inside-out forehands that stretched Sonego wide. Early on, the Italian’s down-the-line backhands pressured the lefty’s movement, but Norrie countered with underspin slices to disrupt rhythm and varied serve placements to blunt returns. This evolution improved his ATP Head2Head to 3-1 against Sonego, who closes the year at 30-24, his passion evident in every fiery exchange.
As the decider unfolded, Norrie’s persistence paid off, his crosscourt patterns forcing errors after sustained probing. The surface’s speed rewarded his all-court game, turning potential deficits into decisive breaks, much like his Paris breakthrough. With the crowd’s energy swelling, he played unburdened, his level peaking in those final games that sealed the Cameron Norrie comeback.
Youth’s surge sets generational test
Awaiting in Saturday’s decider is Learner Tien, the 19-year-old NextGenATP star who dismantled Ukrainian lucky loser Vitaliy Sachko 6-1, 6-4 in a crisp 58 minutes. Tien’s clean timing pulled his foe side to side with clever angles, his flat shots thriving on the hard courts’ pace. This marks his second tour-level final of 2025, joining Joao Fonseca as the second teenager to reach multiple championship matches this year.
Last month in Beijing, he pushed to the final before Jannik Sinner prevailed, a close call that sharpened his poise under pressure. From outside the top 120 at season’s start, Tien now holds No. 31, his rapid rise adding intrigue to the matchup—raw explosiveness versus seasoned depth. Norrie must target the American’s second serve with aggressive returns and use slice to vary tempo, while the Metz hard’s predictability could let his tactical patience shine against youth’s bold inside-in winners.
This final pits Norrie’s battle-hardened resolve against Tien’s unyielding momentum, the indoor swiftness a canvas for their contrasting styles. As the lefty eyes redemption, the crowd’s roar will underscore a clash where mental edges and surface savvy decide the trophy, capping a season of reinvention with potential triumph.
