Norrie sets up Fritz clash in Stockholm as all three Swedish wildcards fall

Cameron Norrie won the last eight games of his opening match at the Stockholm Open on Monday, 9 November, beating James Duckworth 7-5, 6-0 to set up a second-round meeting with top seed Taylor Fritz. On the same day, Leo Borg and Max Dahlin lost, which means all three Swedish wildcards are out of the singles draw at the indoor ATP 250 event.

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Norrie runs away with it after 5-5

For most of the first set there was little between the two. According to Tennis Majors, neither man faced a break point until 5-5, when Norrie converted his third chance in that game and then served out the set.

The second set was one-way traffic. Norrie broke three times, saved the only break point he faced and closed out the match in a little over an hour. The ATP Tour reported that he won 82 per cent of his first-serve points (37 of 45).

The former world No. 8 was pleased with that side of his game. "I probably had one of my best serving days of the year, so we take that," Norrie told the ATP Tour.

Next up is Taylor Fritz, who had a first-round bye as the top seed. Fritz leads their head-to-head 8-6, according to the ATP. The American comes in with a tour-leading 13 indoor wins this season, but also with the disappointment of Paris, where he held two match points against Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals and lost. That defeat cost him a place at the ATP Finals.

No Swede left in the singles draw

The home crowd had a tough start to the week. Elias Ymer was the first wildcard to go, losing 6-1, 7-6(4) to Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Sunday.

On Monday, British qualifier Toby Samuel beat Leo Borg, the son of Björn Borg, 6-3, 6-2. Borg was playing in the main draw at his home event for the sixth year in a row, the ATP noted. Tennis Majors reported that he saved seven of the 11 break points he faced but could not keep Samuel at bay.

Max Dahlin, 20 and ranked No. 778, pushed fifth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry the furthest. The Swede took the second set in a tie-break before Etcheverry won 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3. It was the Argentine's 50th win on hard courts, according to the ATP, and he now faces his compatriot Thiago Agustin Tirante, who beat Jaume Munar 7-6(3), 6-3.

The rest of the opening rounds

Monday's other first-round matches all went in straight sets. Seventh seed Ugo Humbert, last year's runner-up, beat Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 6-4, 6-3 and meets qualifier Borna Gojo, who beat Tomas Machac 6-3, 6-4. Sixth seed Alex Michelsen beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-2, 6-3 and plays Cerundolo next.

Four first-round matches were still to be played on Tuesday, including 2022 champion Holger Rune against eighth seed Zizou Bergs. Rune is back in Stockholm a year after a serious Achilles injury at this event, which kept him out for 11 months.

Musetti and Ruud enter the draw

Samuel's reward is a meeting with third seed Lorenzo Musetti, who is making his Stockholm debut. The Italian won the title in Lyon two weeks ago, beating Fritz in the final.

Defending champion Casper Ruud is the second seed and will play the winner of Adrian Mannarino and Alexander Shevchenko. Stockholm is Ruud's last event of the season. He has confirmed that former world No. 3 David Ferrer will join his team in 2027, once Ferrer's time as Spain's Davis Cup captain ends after the Finals in Bologna.

What it means

For Norrie, this was a clean, efficient start, and the meeting with Fritz will be a good test of how well he is playing right now. Fritz is the in-form indoor player in the draw, and Norrie's serve will need to hold up as well as it did on Monday.

Stockholm is one of the last ATP Tour events before the ATP Finals, which run from 15 to 22 November at the Inalpi Arena in Turin. Fritz, Musetti and Ruud are not among the eight qualified players, so for them this week is about ending the season with a title.