Cameron Norrie suffered another disappointing early exit at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Having been upset by France’s Gregoire Barrere in his first match at the Miami Open last month, Norrie fell to a 6-3 6-4 loss against Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the opening round on the Mediterranean clay.
Norrie clawed his way back into the match after a fast start from Cerundolo but did not look settled throughout and made 18 unforced errors compared to only eight winners.
A netted forehand gave Cerundolo the crucial break in the ninth game of the second set as the pressure on the British number one finally told.
Having started the season with a run of 21 wins from 25 matches, Norrie, ranked 13th, now finds himself needing to rediscover his confidence for the rest of the clay-court stretch.
