Returning to the ATP Tour after three painful, injury-hit months, former British number one Cameron Norrie takes on Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Stockholm Open on Tuesday afternoon.
Norrie has not played a top-level match since the middle of July and has now dropped outside the top 50, sitting just three places above his upcoming foe in the ATP Tour rankings.
Match preview
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Last making an appearance at the top level during the summer - where he was eliminated from the Bastad Open by soon-to-be ex-tennis player Rafael Nadal - Norrie was forced to skip the Paris 2024 Olympics, the US Open and Davis Cup due to a troublesome forearm injury.
Without Norrie donning the GB kit, his nation failed to make it through to November's Davis Cup Finals knockout stage, but the 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist - who only made it as far as round three at SW19 this summer - made his competitive return in a Roanne Challenger event last week.
The top seed for the event - and the only top-100 player competing in the singles - Norrie eased past qualifier Etienne Donnet and came from a set down to defeat Italy's Stefano Travaglia, but he fell to a 6-1 5-7 3-6 loss to Luca Van Assche in the quarters.
Still a bit rusty after a three-month layoff, Norrie committed five double faults and only landed 60% of his first serves against Van Assche, who also saved seven of the 10 break points that the former British number one managed to fashion on the day.
However, the Challenger comeback was all good match practice for Norrie, who picked up his 200th win on the ATP Tour in Barcelona this year and now prepares to compete at just his second Stockholm Open - his tournament debut in 2022 ended with a quarter-final loss to eventual winner Holger Rune.
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A stern Serbian test awaits Norrie in the first round, though, as world number 55 Kecmanovic embarks on another mission to win just his second title on the ATP Tour, having not conquered an event since his inaugural success at the 2020 Austrian Open.
The Serbian has made finals on all three surfaces down the years, but he was beaten in both of his championship matches last year - losing to Taylor Fritz in Delray Beach and Casper Ruud in Estoril - and his 2024 hard-court swing has been nothing to shout about.
Indeed, Kecmanovic lost to Tallon Griekspoor in the first round in Beijing, before being eliminated at the second hurdle at the Shanghai Masters, overcoming Australia's Rinky Hijikata in the first set before the latter's compatriot Alexei Popyrin avenged his elimination with a 6-3 6-2 beating of the Serbian.
The 25-year-old can only boast a modest record of 21-26 this year, but he has previous in the Swedish capital, defeating defending Stockholm Open champion Rune in last year's tournament and making it all the way to the semi-finals, where he lost to qualifier Pavel Kotov.
Swedish wildcard Elias Ymer or Chilean fifth seed Nicolas Jarry will be waiting for Kecmanovic in the second round if he can give Norrie a rude awakening on his ATP Tour return, but the Serbian must buck a recent trend if he is to avoid a swift elimination.
Head To Head
Queen's Club Championships (2023) - First round: Norrie wins 6-4 7-6[5]
Paris Masters (2022) - First round: Norrie wins 6-4 6-2
St Petersburg Open (2020) - Second round: Norrie wins 7-5 6-7[5] 6-3
Norrie travels to Sweden boasting a 100% success rate against Kecmanovic from their three previous matches on the ATP Tour, and two of those victories have come on indoor hard courts, including a hard-fought three-set win in St Petersburg four years ago.
The Briton made much lighter work of Kecmanovic at the Paris Masters a couple of years back, before maintaining his perfect record against the Serbian at Queen's last year, hitting eight aces en route to that two-set victory.
We say: Kecmanovic to win in three sets
Norrie has always been a player to rely on his outstanding fitness levels, but he may be lacking in that regard after missing a quarter of the year and has not had much match practice since shaking off his forearm injury.
For that reason, we can envisage Kecmanovic finally getting one over the ex-British number one, although he has not been in scintillating form either and should be made to work for his place in round two.
Ben Knapton
