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Match Details
Fixture: (5) Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie
Tournament: China Open 2023
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: National Tennis Center, Beijing, China
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $3,633,875
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime | Canada - TSN
Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie preview
Fifth seed Andrey Rublev will play against Cameron Norrie in the first round of the 2023 China Open.
Rublev continued to perform consistently at the Majors this season, making the last eight at three of them, except for the French Open. He bagged the biggest title of his career by winning the Monte-Carlo Masters, but didn't reach the quarterfinals at any of the other Masters events.
Rublev won the Swedish Open over Casper Ruud in the final. He also won title at the Madrid Open in doubles alongside Karen Khachanov. He finished as the runner-up in Dubai, Banja Luka and Halle. He mounted an unsuccessful challenge in the Laver Cup last week as he lost both of his doubles ties.
Norrie started the season on a strong note, but his form has dipped over the last couple of months. He reached the finals in Auckland and Buenos Aires before claiming his first title of the season at the Rio Open, that too by defeating defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
Following a quarterfinal exit from the Indian Wells Masters, he didn't win consecutive matches until the Italian Open, where he reached the fourth round. He concluded his time on clay with a third round exit from the French Open.
Norrie then bowed out of Wimbledon in the second round and didn't win a match until the US Open. He snapped his four-match losing streak to make it to the third round in New York. At last week's Zhuhai Championships, the Brit was shown the door by Aslan Karatsev in the quarterfinals.
Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie head-to-head
The two have split their previous four meetings evenly to tie the head-to-head at 2-2. Norrie won their last encounter at the 2023 Indian Wells Masters in straight sets.
Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie odds
(Odds will be added once they're available)
Andrey Rublev vs Cameron Norrie prediction
Rublev's had a better season compared to Norrie, but both have had their share of ups and downs this year. However, the Brit has won just three of his last 10 matches, so it's safe to say that he's going through a difficult patch at the moment.
Norrie did defeat Rublev when they duked it out earlier this season, but the slow conditions at Indian Wells favored the former more than the latter. The relatively faster surface in Beijing is likely to tip the scales in the Russian's favor.
Rublev hyper-offensive ballstriking has been neutralized effectively by Norrie a couple of times. However, the Russian's aggressive brand of tennis is likely to triumph once more given his opponent's current shaky form.
Pick: Andrey Rublev to win in three sets.
