- Pavel Kotov defeated Camero 4-6 6-3 3-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 in the first round of the French Open
- It is Norrie’s first loss in the first round of a major since 2022 in Australia
- Harriet Dart also lost in straight sets 6-7, 4-6 to Czech top seed Linda Noskova.
Much like the torrential downpour scheduled for Paris this week, the forecast for British tennis looks rather bleak and bleak after Cam Norrie and Harriet Dart scored four out of four defeats for local interests at the French Open yesterday.
The pair followed Andy Murray and Jack Draper by exiting the tournament in the first round and are now feared of a complete elimination, with Dan Evans and Katie Boulter playing their first matches today.
That would be the first time since 2020 that all Britons fall in the first round, when all six fell in the Covid-affected year. Before that was 2013, when a back injury to Murray exposed the lack of depth in the British game.
Norrie lost in five sets after four hours and 11 minutes (6-4, 3-6, 5-3, 6-7, 2-6) to Pavel Kotov, the burly and burly Russian. He failed to reach his best and that raises the possibility that Draper could usurp him as the British number one at the end of the grass tour.
The 28-year-old fell in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time since January 2022 and said: “I’m pretty devastated with the result.” I didn’t play well at all, all the credit goes to him. There were some lapses in concentration.
British number one Cameron Norrie was eliminated from the French Open in the first round on Monday.
Russian Pavel Kotov came back from a set down and took the decisive set through a tie-break.
‘This is going to hurt a lot. He had a wonderful preparation. I didn’t act. I was confident but I ended up taking off. It is a difficult question. I’m very disappointed not to have gotten results, but I guess it’s a good learning experience.’
Kotov, world number 56, had more power and took advantage of a sloppy performance by Norrie. He hailed one of the biggest wins of his career just a year after losing his trainer Ivan Polyakov to cancer when he was just 29 years old.
Meanwhile, Dart lost in straight sets 6-7, 4-6 to Czech top seed Linda Noskova. The 27-year-old, who endured a horror year in 2024, including spending time in a Bangkok hospital for food poisoning on the way to the Australian Open, put up a good fight, but it wasn’t enough.
Harriet Dart also lost in straight sets 6-7, 4-6 to Czech top seed Linda Noskova on Monday.
She said: “The better players you face, the more opportunities you have to take advantage of.” “I created a lot of opportunities today but I didn’t capitalize on them or capitalize on them.”
Great Britain’s hopes are now firmly in the hands of Boulter, who will play her first French Open against her good friend Paula Badosa, who has battled injuries this season. Evans, now 34, has only won one of seven main draw matches at Roland Garros.
