Cameron Norrie booked his place in the semi-finals of the Lyon Open with a three-set victory over Argentina's Sebastian Baez on Thursday.
The Brit entered the tournament as the number one seed and came through a tough test 6-4 4-6 7-5 against his counterpart to progress to the final four.
Norrie immediately broke Baez in the very first game, but a double fault from the Brit then earned the Argentine a break of his own to level the scores at 1-1.
Both players held well until Norrie executed a perfect love break in game five, with his powerful forehand too much for Baez to return as the ball sailed out.
Norrie let out a roar after taking the first set with 47 minutes on the clock, but twenty-one-year old Baez came storming back in the second.
Neither man would earn the vital break until game 10, with Norrie only just over-hitting a forehand to force a deciding third set.
© Reuters
Once again, the early break would go Norrie's way thanks to a phenomenal forehand into the corner, but the British number one could not serve for the set later on as Baez's down-the-line shot levelled proceedings at 5-5.
However, the crowd's cheers could not prevent Baez's double fault handing Norrie a late advantage, and a pinpoint smash would hand the three-time Lyon Open semi-finalist the victory.
After prevailing in a 2-hour and 40-minute contest, Norrie said: "He played a really good match and made it so physical. Like you said, all the rallies were so tough.
"It was really tough to finish it off at the end there but I managed to do it. I really enjoyed the battle and looking forward to the next one.
"You can take a lot of confidence from these games, it means a lot to get through a match like that when I'm not really feeling too comfortable."
Norrie - who lost the final of last year's Lyon Open to Stefanos Tsitsipas - will face Denmark's Holger Rune for a spot in the showpiece event against either Alex de Minaur or Alex Molcan.
Ben Knapton
