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Fixture: (14) Cameron Norrie vs Lucas Pouille
Date: Wednesday, May 31
Tournament: French Open 2023
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Paris, France
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor clay
Prize money: €49,600,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel, NBC Sports, Peacock TV | Canada - TSN | UK - Eurosport | India - Sony Ten
Cameron Norrie vs Lucas Pouille preview
Fourteenth seed Cameron Norrie locks horns with French qualifier Lucas Pouille as a place in the French Open third round beckons.
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World No. 13 Norrie faced a stern test from French veteran Benoit Paire in his opener. After the left-hander drew first blood by taking the opener 7-5, Paire delighted the home crowd by taking the next two sets to move into the lead.
Although Norrie fought back to force a decider, Paire was close to the finish line at 4-2 in the decider. To his credit, the 27-year-old won four straight games to silence the partisan Suzanne Lenglen crowd and bring up his 28th win of the season. Norrie is now 6-5 at Roland Garros, reaching the third round in the last two years.
Meanwhile, the 675th-ranked Pouille - back from a long injury layoff - marked his season debut with a win. Showing little signs of match rust, the Frenchman got the better of Jurij Rodionov in straight sets to improve to 8-9 at Roland Garros, winning for the first time in four years after consecutive first-round exits.
Pouille only played on the Challenger Tour this year coming into the clay court Major, reaching the Quimper quarterfinal. He's coming off a second-round run at Tallahassee.
Cameron Norrie vs Lucas Pouille head-to-head
Norrie has split his two previous meetings with Pouille. Their last meeting was in the opening round at Wimbledon two years ago, which Norrie won in four sets. The pair's lone meeting on clay - in the 2018 Roland Garros second round - went the way of Pouille.
Cameron Norrie vs Lucas Pouille odds
All odds as per BETMGM
Cameron Norrie vs Lucas Pouille prediction
Both Norrie and Pouille like to dominate opponents from the back of the court, but the similarities in their game styles end there.
The left-handed Norrie is turning out to be a formidable all-court player. Although clay isn't his strongest suit, he has had good results on the surface this year, reaching two finals, winning one (Rio de Janeiro). He beat World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the final, a week after losing to the Spaniard in the Buenos Aires title match.
Meanwhile, Pouille is a big server, can hit powerfully off either flank and is a good mover. However, he faces a long road to return to the top echelons of the game. Although he beat Norrie five years ago at the same tournament, the two players have had contrasting results since then, with the Brit now a much-improved player.
Pick: Norrie in four sets
