{"id":407107,"date":"2026-01-13T20:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407107\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T20:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T20:26:09","slug":"tennis-atp-auckland-2026-norrie-eases-past-gaston-to-kickstart-auckland-campaign-mpetshi-perricard-awaits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/407107\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis | ATP Auckland 2026 | Norrie eases past Gaston to kickstart Auckland campaign, Mpetshi Perricard awaits"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\nBy Tony Fairbairn<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Norrie [5] def Hugo Gaston [Q] 6-3 6-4<br \/>\nNorrie v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard | H2H: First Meeting<\/p>\n<p>AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND \u2013 Cameron Norrie eased past Hugo Gaston in straight sets to reach the second round in Auckland where he faces Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Norrie [5] def Hugo Gaston 6-3 6-4<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=CameronNorrie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Cameron Norrie <\/a>is into the second round in Auckland after a straight sets win over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=HugoGaston\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Hugo Gaston<\/a>. After his second round exit in Brisbane, Norrie was determined to put things right this week in New Zealand and the British number two started with two comfortable holds before breaking in the fifth game.<\/p>\n<p>A 3-2 lead had been created and Norrie was proactive as well as aggressive on serve with the Brit only losing one more point on serve. The Frenchman continued to apply consistent pressure on serve but lacked answers on return with Norrie using depth and variety to catch Gaston off-guard. A second break of serve in the ninth game sealed the opening set in 34 minutes for Norrie.<\/p>\n<p>The second set was a closer affair as Gaston showed a much more clinical side to his game and came up clutch in the pressure points. There was severe pressure from Norrie in the fourth game as he created four break points in a marathon game but Gaston held his nerve and took more risks to level the set at 2-2.<\/p>\n<p>However, Gaston had minimal impact on return as he failed to create a single break point in the entire match. This allowed Norrie to be free on return as scoreboard pressure eventually told on the French qualifier. In the tenth game Norrie was resilient and pragmatic as on his fifth break point as well as his first match point, the Brit broke serve to seal his place in the second round in what was an efficient display from the two-time finalist.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Norrie [5] v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard H2H &amp; Match Fundamentals<\/p>\n<p>Cameron Norrie [5] v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard \u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nH2H: First Meeting \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>ATP Auckland 2026 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\nAuckland, New Zealand \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Hard (O)<br \/>\nPrize Money: $12,285<\/p>\n<p>Third on Centre Court (01:30 GMT) \u00a0\u00a0<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nowtv.com\/watch-sky-sports-online\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sky\/Now TV<\/a> &lt;- Subscription Required<\/p>\n<p>Norrie will now face big-serving Frenchman <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=GiovanniMpetshiPerricard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard <\/a>for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tale of the Tape \u2013 Key Stats (Last 52 Weeks)<\/p>\n<p>H2H:<br \/>\nCameron Norrie (WR 28)<br \/>\nGiovanni Mpetshi Perricard (WR 63) \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Tournament Previous Best<br \/>\nFinal (2019, 2023)<br \/>\nN\/A \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>1st Serve %<br \/>\n66<br \/>\n67.4<\/p>\n<p>Service Games Won %<br \/>\n80.6<br \/>\n89.2<\/p>\n<p>Break Points Saved %<br \/>\n65.5<br \/>\n69.6<\/p>\n<p>2nd Serve Return Points Won %<br \/>\n52.3<br \/>\n35<\/p>\n<p>Break Points Converted %<br \/>\n37.7<br \/>\n31.7<\/p>\n<p>Norrie will need to continue his efficiency on break points against one of the biggest servers on the tour in Mpetshi Perricard.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.connectedclubs.co.uk\/?wpam_id=24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-56592 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Connected-Clubs-Graphic.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Playing Styles and Prediction<\/p>\n<p>Last season was inconsistent for Mpetshi Perricard as he struggled to back up his ranking points and became a little bit too predictable, exposing the Frenchman\u2019s lack of variety. After defeating <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennisabstract.com\/cgi-bin\/player.cgi?p=TommyPaul\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Tommy Paul <\/a>in Brisbane, the Frenchman will be hoping he can continue this form as he looks to avoid being too one-dimensional and regain his spot back in the world\u2019s top 50.<\/p>\n<p>Norrie will need to be smart on return as he will look to hit powerful returns and will need to dictate play on his terms. Meanwhile, Mpetshi Perricard will serve big and use the forehand to force Norrie into deeper positions on the court. The faster conditions means that Mpetshi Perricard enters this match as slight favourite but Norrie\u2019s resilience and ability to play one extra ball back could be the key to victory here.<\/p>\n<p>Prediction: Mpetshi Perricard in three sets.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>How to Watch\/Follow ATP Auckland 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Tony Fairbairn Cameron Norrie [5] def Hugo Gaston [Q] 6-3 6-4 Norrie v Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard |&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":407108,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[169986,49,44709,48,89333,2584,82,593],"class_list":["post-407107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-atp-auckland","tag-ca","tag-cameron-norrie","tag-canada","tag-giovanni-mpetshi-perricard","tag-hugo-gaston","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=407107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/407107\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/407108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=407107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=407107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=407107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}