© Getty Images Sport – Buda Mendes
Cameron Norrie’s attempt to hit an underarm serve went extremely bad as the Briton lost the point and then also got heavily booed by the Rio de Janeiro crowd.
On Saturday, defending champion and No. 2 seed Norrie was playing against 113th-ranked qualifier Mariano Navone in the Rio de Janeiro semifinal. Norrie, who entered the match as the clear favorite, appeared to be struggling with the conditions in Rio early in the match and that kept for the remainder of his semifinal against Navone.
Down 3-5 in the first set and serving at deuce, Norrie went for an underarm serve. Navone easily read Norrie’s intention and hit a pretty easy winner to give himself a set point. Initially, the crowd started cheering because Navone won the point but then cheers turned into boos, which were directed at Norrie.
Over the last few years, there have numerous debates about the underarm serve issue as some believe it should be treated as just another shot while some feel it is disrespectful to the opponent.
Attempt an underarm serve in South America, get booed 🙈#RioOpen10Anos pic.twitter.com/HHseWNdqAW
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 24, 2024
Norrie ended up losing to Navone
After an unsuccessful underarm serve, Norrie lost the first set and also the next set as Navone completed a 6-4 6-2 upset win over the defending Rio champion.
Norrie didn’t make a good start to the match as he got broken in the first game of the match but managed to bounce back in the following game and break back Navone. After getting an early break back, Norrie found himself down by a break again after dropping his serve in the seventh game.
With Navone leading 5-3 and Norrie serving to stay in the first set, the Briton managed to save five set points and prolong the set. However, Navone kept his focus and converted his sixth set point on his serve in the following game.
The second set started just as the first set as Norrie got broken in the first game before getting the break back in the following game. After blowing an early second-set break, Navone kept pressing Norrie as he earned back-to-back breaks in the third and fifth games to win four games in a row before closing out the match on his serve in the eighth game.
Norrie is now scheduled to play in Acapulco, where he has been drawn to meet Dominik Koepfer in the first round.
