Tien had beaten Norrie in straight sets in their last two meetings, in Acapulco and Shanghai earlier this year, and after winning the first set on Saturday, it looked like history was going to repeat itself in Metz.
But Norrie had other ideas—he broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set, holding from there to even the match at a set apiece. And then, after Tien jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set, Norrie clawed back, eventually sending the encounter into a third set tie-break.
The Brit came out firing in the breaker, too, storming out to a 5-1 lead—but the match turned on a dime one last time from there, as Tien won five points in a row, and seven of the next eight, to finally close it out.
“I mean, obviously it was so motivating to come out and play a final,” Tien said after the match. “Today I thought Cam played great in the second set. He kind of took it out of my hands a little bit.
“I’m glad I could get it together and get off to a good start in the third.”
Having already made his Top 100 and Top 50 debuts this year, Tien will now crack the Top 30 for the first time, projected to rise from No. 38 to a new career-high of No. 28, as per the ATP’s official live rankings.
