Earlier than the match, left-hander Norrie had stated he was “involved” by an issue along with his left wrist which pressured him to tug out of an ATP occasion in Auckland 5 days in the past.
Norrie, who’s Britain’s highest-ranked singles participant, is safely via and faces Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri subsequent.
After a poor finish to final 12 months the place he admitted feeling burned out, Norrie is seeking to bounce again in 2024 and transcend the third spherical in Melbourne for the primary time.
After scrapping to save lots of a break level in his first service sport, Norrie rapidly asserted his authority as he took benefit of Varillas’s poor service sport.
Norrie utilized heavy strain because the Peruvian barely landed a primary serve, ultimately taking a sixth break level for a 3-2 lead which was sufficient to safe the opening set.
With Varillas’ first-serve share down under 45%, Norrie moved a double break up in the beginning of the second set, permitting for him to drop serve earlier than seeing it out on the second alternative.
Varillas produced a double fault handy over one other break for 2-1 within the third and Norrie continued to maneuver via the gears properly.
He took his opponent’s serve for the fifth time earlier than ending Varillas’ late resistance by taking his third match level in what was a satisfying opening efficiency.
“I feel I did the fundamentals nicely. I served nicely within the large moments and I feel I received plenty of factors on my first serve once I did make them,” Norrie stated.
“I did not assume I served that nicely, however I did not lose many factors on my first serve, which was good to see.”
