Cameron Norrie admits he was 'b****ing and whining too much' before pulling off comeback at Australian Open

There will definitely be British interest in the Australian Open third round after Cameron Norrie survived a huge scare to beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri. The 19th seed was staring down a shock defeat after losing the first two sets, but a flurry of rain delays appeared to help him as he delivered a rousing five-set victory. But fellow Brit Jack Draper is out after losing to Tommy Paul.

Cameron Norrie admitted he was "b****ing and whining too much" before he staged a brilliant recovery from two sets down to oust qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in the Australian Open second round.

The Brit was in deep trouble as the big-hitting Italian sent down winner after winner, but the weather gods were on Norrie's side as a rain delay after a second set tie-break saw the momentum shift in Melbourne.

Norrie started to absorb his opponent's heavy serve and booming forehands upon the resumption and although the rain intervened again, he battled back to win 3-6 6-7(4) 6-2 6-4 6-4 on 1573 Arena.

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"I was making excuses to myself, I was mentally terrible," Norrie told Eurosport's Laura Robson after the match.

"But he took the racquet out my hands in the first hour and a half, and I couldn't play. Then a couple of rain delays and I somehow lifted and won the third set.

"And then when I came out for the fourth set, the crowd were amazing and I thought I was going to win the match – I knew it. I had this feeling and I managed to play solid enough. But he was a great player, credit to him, he made it really difficult."

'I was b****ing and whining too much' - Norrie reacts to comeback victory

Video credit: TNT Sports

It was the third time Norrie had fought back from two sets down in his career as he booked a clash with three-time major finalist Casper Ruud in the third round.

He broke in the first game of the third set and stayed unflappable on serve as he set about overturning the deficit – refusing to offer up a single break point in the third and fourth sets.

Zeppieri finally got another look at the Norrie serve at 2-1 in the decider but his belated break point was smartly snuffed out, before Norrie edged an outstanding 27-point rally at 30-30 on his serve to wriggle to safety for 4-4.

Norrie continued to play human backboard and got his rewards in the next game, taking his second break point before serving out a gruelling match at the first opportunity.

After three hours and 36 minutes on court, Norrie will be relieved that Ruud spent even longer dispatching of home favourite Max Purcell via a final set tie-break.

'Brilliant resilience' from Norrie as he is overjoyed to make it through marathon win

Video credit: TNT Sports

Draper crashes out to 14th seed Paul

Jack Draper's run in Melbourne is over after he lost a see-saw tussle with American 14th seed Tommy Paul in the second round.

The Brit had won their previous two meetings, including at the Adelaide International last week, but he was second best in the biggest moments as he crashed out 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5.

The 22-year-old had three set points in the fourth set to force a decider but Paul – despite taking a tumble at deuce in that crucial game – swatted away the danger before breaking in the next game and then serving out the win.

Draper following his gruelling five-set victory over Marcos Giron in his opener and could not maintain his highest level across the match, failing to build on a promising build-up to the tournament when he reached the final in Adelaide.

"I needed a little revenge. He beat me pretty bad last week and I knew I had to change some things today," Paul said on court afterwards.

"I knew I had to keep him on the court as long as I could. He had a [long] first round, so I have to thank Marcus Giron a little bit for that win as well. Super excited to get through, happy to beat him also.

"I needed to serve a lot better, play more aggressively. He’s unbelievable when he’s dictating, so try and keep him on the defence."

Paul overcomes Britain's Draper in four sets - Australian Open highlights

Video credit: TNT Sports

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