METZ/WASHINGTON, November 6, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Don’t blame Cameron Norrie. The British No. 2, last year’s finalist, came to this week’s Moselle Open in northeastern France for the last regular-season week of the ATP Tour looking to close out his 2025 campaign on a winning note. He simply has played the draw he’s been dealt.
Round by round, the No. 7 seed Norrie has won three times to advance through the draw. Admittedly, some matches have been easier than others. However, now that he’s through to the semifinals, Norrie is the only seeded player remaining.
On Thursday, Norrie faced a Frenchman for the third consecutive time this week. First, there was No. 56 Valentin Royer from Neuilly-sur-Seine in the opening round Monday. Then came 69th-ranked Arthur Cazaux from Montpellier in the second round Tuesday evening. This time, in the quarterfinals, Norrie’s opponent was 156th-ranked lucky loser Kyrian Jacquet. A 24-year-old native of Lyon, Jacquet earned the first two ATP Tour main draw wins of his career earlier this week at Metz. He defeated a pair of Frenchmen, qualifier Luca Van Assche and lucky loser Dan Added, who was added to the main draw after World No. 8 and top seed Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada withdrew on Monday to recover from an injury.
While Jacquet flexed his moxie and biceps against Norrie – wearing a nondescript, sleeveless top with non-matching shorts and sneakers – his tricky game showed plenty of power and promise as exhibited by his 18 aces and 48 overall winners. At times, it flummoxed Norrie.
Battling through ⚔️
Cameron Norrie digs deep to beat Kyrian Jacquet 4-6 7-6(2) 6-4 and reaches back-to-back Metz semi-finals! @MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/4bKPBO6rcI
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 6, 2025
However, in the end, Norrie found his way and won 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes over Jacquet to advance to his 16th career hard-court last four. He also became the first player since Hubert Hurkacz in 2021-22 to reach back-to-back Metz semifinals.
“Yeah, really good from him. He’s had an amazing tournament,” Norrie said of Jacquet, during his on-court interview after improving to 33-25 this season. “I couldn’t find too much stuff on him. He surprised me a lot, mixing it up really well, a lot of slicing and really aggressive at moments. His serve was really, really good.”
Jacquet turned around a 1-4 deficit and won the opening set 6-4 after breaking Norrie for the second time. Next, the 27th-ranked Briton leveled matters in the second set, which was decided by a tiebreaker. Then, at 4-all in the decisive set, Norrie broke Jacquet for the second time in the match in six tries to go ahead 5-4. Soon, he served out his 33rd victory of the season with a brilliantly placed, third-shot backhand winner. It was his his fifth backhand winner of the match and 28th winner overall. Norrie outpointed Jacquet 108-101.
Doesn’t get much better
A sensational forehand from Jacquet finding the line @MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/6Xw0xvrADi
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 6, 2025
After securing match point, Norrie broke loose a big smile and nodded approvingly toward his team. Equal parts happy and relieved, he pulled it together in the end to beat a tough-as-nails opponent in Jacquet.
“The French have so many players, so many different kinds of players,” Norrie admitted. “I really liked the way he competed. He could have easily won the match in the second set but I managed to stay tough. I really enjoyed it. In the end, that was the difference.”
• On Friday, Norrie will face No. 42 Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, who won the Metz title in 2022. Sonego pulled through his quarterfinal against No. 46 Daniel Altmaier of Germany, with a 6-4, 7-6 (6) victory in two hours and two minutes. Altmaier squandered six set points during a seven-deuce, 20-point 12th game, which enabled Sonego to pull off the win during the second-set tie-break.
The victory lifted Sonego into his 11th ATP Tour semifinal – and first one since his title run at Winston-Salem last year. It improved his record against Top-50 opponents to 6-22 and it was Sonego’s second Top-50 triumph after defeating fellow Italian and World No. 22 Flavio Cobolli in the second round.
A dramatic ending
Lorenzo Sonego saves six set points in the second set to overcome Daniel Altmaier 6-4 7-6(6)! @MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/dcr75I9h4x
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 6, 2025
• No. 38 Learner Tien of the United States rallied to defeat No. 63 Matteo Berrettini of Italy, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and 44 minutes to reach his second ATP Tour semifinal after Beijing. The 19-year-old American is the youngest player to advance to the Metz semifinals since Novak Djokovic in 2006. He’s also the youngest U.S. man to record 30 wins in a season since Andy Roddick in 2002 – and the fourth American man to achieve the feat this season, after Taylor Fritz (52), Ben Shelton (40) and Brandon Nakashima (32).
Tien withstood 11 aces from Berrettini, hit 22 winners, converted three of three break points and outscored him 84-69.
30th win of the season
Learner Tien becomes the youngest American man to achieve the feat since Andy Roddick in 2002 after defeating Berrettini 5-7 6-2 6-3 @MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/jB12lR4kMV
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 6, 2025
• In the last four, Tien will face 222nd-ranked lucky loser Vitaliy Sachko, who defeated 243rd-ranked French qualifier Clement Tabur, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in two hours Thursday night. It was their first tour-level meeting after Tabur beat Sachko during qualifying last weekend. Tabur was the last of 14 French players to be eliminated from the main draw.
Sachko struck 24 winners to offset 38 unforced errors. He’s into his first ATP Tour semifinal – the first Ukrainian to reach the last four in an ATP Tour event since 2017 – and his PIF ATP Live Ranking has skyrocketed to No. 163.
1st Ukrainian in an ATP Tour SF since 2017
Vitaliy Sachko avenges his qualifying loss and outlasts Clement Tabur 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the last 4! @MoselleOpen pic.twitter.com/qarQKskbG4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) November 6, 2025
Around Les Arenes de Metz
Doubles No. 2 seeds Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Luke Johnson of Great Britain rallied from a set down to defeat Brazilian duo Rafael Matos and Marcelo Melo, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5, in 70 minutes to advance to Friday’s semifinal round. The Dutch/British pair outpointed their opponents 59-51.
On Friday, Arends and Johnson will face France’s Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert in one semifinal, while Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl of Czechia will oppose Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France in the other semifinal.
Thursday’s Moselle Open results
Friday’s Moselle Open order of play
By the numbers
Until Thursday, only six players had reached consecutive singles semifinals in Metz tournament history. They include: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2011-13), Paul-Henri Mathieu (2008-09), Philipp Kohlschreiber (2009-10), Richard Gasquet (2009-10), Gilles Simon (2015-16), and Hubert Hurkacz (2021-22). Now, Cameron Norrie (2024-25) has become the seventh player – and first since Hurkacz three years ago – to advance to back-to-back semifinals at the Moselle Open.
“Quotable …”
“My tennis wasn’t at my best today but that’s tennis, you have to adapt. I played better in the important moments. I’m really glad for that. … A little bit of luck, sometimes, helps.”
– Matteo Berrettini of Italy, during his on-court interview Wednesday evening, after advancing to the quarterfinal round with a win over Aleksandar Vukic of Australia.
