Cameron Norrie insists he won’t be distracted by the prospect of facing world No1, and French Open favourite, Carlos Alcaraz in the next round during today’s match against Lorenzo Musetti.
Norrie goes into the third-round encounter as the marginal underdog having lost to the Italian at last month’s Barcelona Open.
But the British No1 said bringing the same energy he did to his last match – a comfortable straight-sets win over Lucas Pouille – as well as learning from past mistakes against Musetti would help him get over the line.
“I saw it’s Alcaraz,” he said of his prospective next opponent in the last 16, “but I’m focused on taking it match by match.
“He [Musetti] is a great player, really talented and obviously I lost to him last time. I lost a bit of concentration and a bit of focus, and my level dropped a lot, but I was able to figure out ways to win points.
“It will be difficult and I’ll have to come out with the energy I did against Pouille to have a chance. I think I have a pretty decent game to play him but I’m going to have to play really, really well.
“His best surface is clay, and he’s had a lot of really tough matches. I’m really going to have to play my best with him to have a chance. I’m expecting a tough match.”
This is the third year in a row that Norrie has made it to the third round at Roland Garros but he is yet to go a step further.
Should he overcome Musetti, he boasts a good record against Alcaraz having won two of the last three encounters between the pair including the most recent of his five ATP Tour titles in Rio, which was also played out on clay.
