Cameron Norrie missed out on a first ATP Tour semi-final of the 2025 season as the former British number one fell to home favourite Alex Michelsen in the quarter-finals of the Delray Beach Open.
Norrie and his American foe were locking horns for the second time in the space of a couple of weeks, after the former Wimbledon semi-finalist came from a set down to beat Michelsen in three in the Dallas Open.
The 20-year-old avenged that defeat to his more experienced foe as he came through 7-6[3] 7-5 in one hour and 38 minutes, needing just one break point in the penultimate game after a glut of wasted Norrie chances.
Neither player mustered a single break point in the first 21 games of Friday's quarter-final - excluding the first-set tie-breaker, where Michelsen found a sixth gear to surge into the lead.
The former British number one would seemingly take the contest the distance, though, as at 5-4 in the second set on Michelsen's serve, he raced into a 40-0 lead to bring up three set points.
However, Norrie squandered all three of those break opportunities as Michelsen crucially held serve, before converting the only break chance that came his way in the 11th game of the second set.
The home favourite needed just one match point to book his spot in the semi-finals, where he will face Miomir Kecmanovic, but Norrie can still reflect on another pleasing week having taken down ninth seed Arthur Rinderknech in round two.
Ben Knapton
