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Cameron Norrie bounced back from his Wimbledon disappointment with a straight sets win over Slovakia’s Jozef Kovalik in the first round of the Swedish Open.
The British number two, who lost to Alexander Zverev in the third round in SW19, made a swift transition to clay as he secured a convincing 7-6 (4) 6-4 win.
Norrie told atptour.com: “I was a bit nervous at the beginning, having not played a bunch on clay coming straight from Wimbledon.
“It was not easy but I thought I managed my serve really well and competed really well. I served unbelievably in the tie-break and that helped to get me through.”
In round two, Norrie will face the winner of Rafael Nadal’s clash with Leo Borg, the 21-year-old son of Swedish superstar Bjorn Borg.
Nadal returned to a tennis court for the first time since the end of May on Monday, when he teamed up with Casper Ruud to score a 6-1 6-4 doubles win over second seeds Guido Andreozzi and Miguel Reyes-Varela.
Britain’s Jacob Fearnley, who grabbed a set off Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon last week, fell back to earth as he lost 6-4 6-3 to Li Tu in qualifying for the Hall of Fame Open in Newport, Rhode Island.
