Metz Open: Bonzi defeats Norrie to win his maiden ATP title

Benjamin Bonzi won his maiden ATP title by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 6-4 to win the Metz Open at the Arènes de Metz.

Bonzi had reached two previous finals before today’s but was on the losing side each time. At 28 years old, the Frenchman has now reached a long-coveted milestone by edging past Norrie in front of a delighted home crowd.

The pair swapped breaks in the first set before Bonzi clinched a tight tiebreak, with a sole break of serve enough for him to take the second set and with it, his first ATP title.

Norrie failed to convert 13 of 14 break point opportunities, which is where the match was lost as Bonzi showed great composure under pressure.

Bonzi closes his season as a deserved first-time ATP titlist, while Norrie will be encourage by a return to the latter stage of a tournament after the second half of his season was decimated by injury.

Bonzi, ranked No 124, defeated Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut (7-6 (3), 6-3), Norwegian Casper Ruud, the second seed (6-4, 6-4), qualifier Quentin Halys (6-3, 7-6 (1)) and American Alex Michelsen, the No 8 seed (4-6, 6-0, 7-5) earlier in the tournament.

In the previous rounds of the Metz tournament, Norrie, ranked No 57, defeated Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena (3-6, 6-4, 6-3), French lucky loser Luca Van Assche (6-3, 3-6, 6-1), Belgian Zizou Bergs (6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-1) and Frenchman Corentin Moutet (6-2, 7-6 (5)).