Cameron Norrie asserts his dominance with an impressive performance at the Barcelona Open

British tennis player Cameron Norrie sailed smoothly into the last 16 of the Barcelona Open with a commanding straight-sets victory over Pavel Kotov, a Russian qualifier. Norrie, ranked seventh and already a clay court titleholder this year at the Rio Open in February, attained victory in just an hour and 13 minutes, dropping only three games during the match. He is keen to reach deep into the tournament since the French Open is set to start on May 28 and Rafael Nadal is not going to participate. Norrie, currently ranked 13th in the world, is scheduled to face the Italian Lorenzo Musetti in the next round. Meanwhile, Dan Evans secured his spot in the competition’s last 16 after a convincing win over Matteo Arnaldi. Evans, the British No. 2, executed a 6-2 6-3 triumph against the Italian, breaking serve three times during the match. In his next match, he must face Karen Khachanov, a Russian player. In another game, however, Liam Broady was eliminated from the Srpska Open in Bosnia and Herzegovina, following a first-round loss to the home crowd’s favourite, Damir Dzumhur. Dzumhur, a wild card entrant, eased past the British number five 6-3 6-0 in a little over an hour to establish a last-16 tie with veteran Frenchman Richard Gasquet. Despite Broady saving four break points in the sixth game, the 29-year-old failed to hold any of his next four service games.