Cam Norrie is a fan favorite for tennis fans because he finds a way to try to fight through matches he has no business winning. He has hinted at high-end excellence, but never quite reached that. He isn't likely to in the future now that he is 30 years old, and his body might feel more like 40.
His first -round opponent in the 2026 Cincinnati Open was 20-year-old Dino Prizmic, who seemingly has been on the ATP Tour for years, but that is untrue. He is still finding his footing, part of which includes a victory a victory against Novak Djokovic at this year's Rome Masters.
In other words, neither Norrie nor Prizmic is without talent, but the consistency from shot to shot might be lacking. That proved to be the case in the match in Cincinnati.
Cam Norrie defeats Dino Prizmic in the first round of the 2026 Cincinnati Open
In the first set, Norrie made far too many unforced errors, handing his opponent the games that Prizmic wasn't taking by force. To be fair, the Croatian was playing better overall, more secure in his groundstrokes, and outmoving the older Brit.
In the second set, Prizmic was the one to dip in form, though. Norrie still made his share of errors, but on equal footing, one simply doesn't wait for the Brit to wilt. He obviously wasn't feeling 100 percent, seemingly tiring more than he normally would with perhaps some other malady afflicting him, but he won't willingly choose to be forced out of a match.
Norrie's backhand became more potent, and he raced to a 6-1 second-set victory to even the match. Entering the third set, the question was which player would be in better condition to win the match on a hot Cincinnati afternoon.
Prizmic pushed Norrie in early service games in the third set, but somehow, and possibly through sheer will, the Brit kept holding. While doing so at 2-3, Prizmic fell awkwardly and appeared to strain something. He kept playing, but his fitness was in question.
Serving at 3-all, Norrie broke Prizmic's serve at love. Maybe the Brit had stepped up in form, but the Croatian was also likely hindered by an injury he wasn't calling a medio for. Either way, the Brit suddenly had all the momentum.
After holding serve easily and seemingly gifting Prizmic a hold of serve to get to 5-4, all the Brit needed to do was hold in his next game. He did so without an issue to take the third and final set 6-4.
Cameron Norrie will next see a massive uptick in competition in the second round of the Cincinnati Open. He will face top seed Alexander Zverev. The two players have met seven times before, and the German has won every match.
Add us as a preferred source on Google