Bernard Tomic’s recent resurgence on the Tour was brought to a sudden halt when he was knocked out of the Los Cabos Open in just 50 minutes.
The Australian former top-20 player entered the tournament after winning the Lincoln Challenger in America, his first singles title of any sort since 2018. Then in Los Cabos this week, he entered the main draw as a lucky loser before stunning fourth seed Karen Khachanov in the second round.
Tomic’s run ended on Friday against Cameron Norrie, who thrashed the Australian 6-1, 6-0 and won 12 games in a row. Playing in his first quarter-final on the ATP Tour since 2019, Tomic produced an error-stricken performance that featured 29 unforced errors, with 19 of those coming from his forehand. He won 47% of his first service points and 28% of his second.
“I’m pleased with the result,” Norrie said after the match.
“I was very solid, I returned well, I made a lot of tough balls when I needed to.”
The victory is a milestone in Norrie’s season with it being the first time the Brit has reached the semi-finals of an ATP event in 2026. He was forced to retire from his opening match at the French Open during the clay swing due to a rib injury and then failed to win any matches on the grass leading up to this week.
Now regaining some momentum, Norrie has booked a showdown against eighth seed and defending champion Denis Shapovalov. The Canadian has dropped only one set in three matches played so far in the tournament, which was in the first round against Rinky Hijikata. He has also defeated Rodrigo Pacheco Méndez and Dalibor Svrcina.
“He’s really confident at the moment,” Norrie, who won the Los Cabos title in 2021, said of facing Shapovalov.
“When he’s confident, he’s one of the toughest guys in the world to play. But I’m going to focus on myself, enjoy tonight, and get ready for the match.”
In the other half of the draw, Arthur Gea will play Coleman Wong for a place in the final. Neither of these players has played in a title match at a tournament above Challenger level.
