Cameron Norrie won a final set tie-break as he started his clay-court season by outlasting Miomir Kecmanovic in a near three-hour attritional battle in Monte Carlo.

Norrie, who displaced Jack Draper as the British No 1 two weeks ago, had not won a match at the Monte Carlo Masters since 2019, with four straight losses, including one in qualifying last year.

He breezed through the opening set, only for his Serbian opponent to force a decider, but while Norrie was broken when serving for the match at 5-4 ahead, he held his nerve to triumph 6-2 4-6 7-6 (0).

Kecmanovic, especially, seemed to run out of steam at the end of a first-round contest lasting two hours and 48 minutes as Norrie booked a last-32 showdown against Australian fifth seed Alex De Minaur.

PA