Norrie Secures Back-To-Back Finals In Metz, Faces Tien In Title Match

Cameron Norrie
Cameron Norrie (photo: Chryslène Caillaud)

METZ/WASHINGTON, November 7, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

Cameron Norrie considers himself a lucky guy. After all, he’s rolled the dice all week long at the Moselle Open in northeastern France, in his final tournament of the 2025 season – going the distance in four consecutive matches – and each time has come up a winner.

After the No. 7 seed Norrie from Great Britain defeated 42nd-ranked Lorenzo Sonego of Italy, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, in two hours on Court Central inside Les Arenes de Metz Friday afternoon, which enabled him to reach his 16th ATP Tour final – and second-straight one in Metz after last year – he spoke during his on-court interview about how lucky he felt. After all, Norrie gets to play another match on Saturday – and to go after another title – in a city he’s grown to enjoy.

“Even last year, it was nice to be in the final. I was enjoying my tennis a lot after my injuries,” Norrie said after winning his fourth match this week in the ATP 250 indoor hard-court event. “To make the finals here, again … it’s a special stadium, it’s a nice field. The atmosphere is so good every day. Nothing changes for me tomorrow. I’m want to continue to enjoy my tennis – that’s what I came here to do. I’m lucky I get to play another match tomorrow. It’s one more week, one more day to enjoy my tennis this year. I get to do it here in Metz. I’m a lucky guy.”

Norrie’s 34th victory in his 59th match this season advanced him to his first tour-level final since Metz last year, where he lost to France’s Benjamin Bonzi. He’s just the second player in tournament history to reach back-to-back title matches in Metz since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France became the first to do it from 2011-13. Also, Norrie has secured for himself a position in the Top 30 of the Year-End PIF ATP Rankings for the fourth time in the last five seasons (following his No. 12 finish in 2021, No. 14 in 2022, and No. 18 in 2023).

“It was nice to get better and better as the match went on,” Norrie said. “I was a little bit nervous to begin the match. I elevated my serve. He was tough, he served well. He’s a difficult player and I had to find the solution and I was able to do that today. So, I’m happy.”

On Saturday, Norrie will face 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals runner-up Learner Tien of the United States for the fourth time this year. The 19-year-old American, ranked 38th, ended the surprising run of 222nd-ranked lucky loser Vitaliy Sachko of Ukraine, 6-1, 6-4 in 56 minutes in a very one-sided semifinal. Tien is the first American to reach the Metz final and he’s also the second teenager to reach at least two ATP Tour finals this season after Joao Fonseca of Brazil. 

Looking back on the opening semifinal, it took Sonego only three games to achieve his first break of Norrie, who had been pushed to three sets in each of his three previous matches this week in Metz and lost the first set in his last two. However, the Italian No. 5 made the most of his opportunity and rode the break advantage to win the opening set. Sonego weathered a 14-shot rally on set point, one of several lengthy exchanges he and Norrie shared during the 40-minute opening set. 

After Sonego struck 11 winners during the first set – five of them from his forehand side – Norrie went to work in the second set and struck back. Like Sonego in the first set, Norrie broke early to grab a 3-1 lead. He consolated the break by channeling his frustration from losing the first set and, soon, gained a love hold for a 4-1 advantage. Suddenly, the thought of another three-set skirmish for Norrie seemed a real possibility – and, three games later, it was. Norrie broke Sonego for a second time to win the middle set 6-2. His mood significantly improved during the 36-minute stanza.

For the British No. 2, it was onward to his fourth-straight three-set battle of the week, giving the Metz fans maximum value for their money. Norrie was in search of his 16th ATP Tour final – and first one since he reached the title match in Metz a year ago. Meanwhile, Sonego was looking to reach his seventh ATP Tour final – his first since his Winston-Salem title run in August – and to earn his second Top-30 win of the tournament.

As the third set unfolded, there was very little room for error but still plenty of excitement. While Norrie’s service games were brief and perfunctory, Sonego’s proved an adventure in pleasure and pain. He withstood three break points in his first service game and two more in his next one – five in all. From 4-all, one wondered who would blink first. Not Norrie after winning 11 straight points on his serve to hold for a 5-4 lead.

Norrie proved brilliant in going ahead 0-30 after winning his 11th point on return against Sonego. He gained a match point with a powerful inside-out forehand winner to cap a six-shot rally. Then, Norrie won the semifinal after Sonego weakly netted a backhand return. For him, it was another come-from-behind win and a return to the Metz final. He finished with 34 winners – 23 of them from his forehand – to 17 unforced errors, compared to 22 winners and 29 unforced errors by Sonego. Norrie won 84 percent (48 of 57) of his first-serve points, converted three of 10 break points and outpointed his opponent 88-67.

“It’s always a battle when I play Lorenzo,” said Norrie, who improved to 3-1 lifetime against Sonego. “I have a lot of respect for him. He’s so passionate about tennis and he showed he came to fight. We both fought hard today. I was really happy with my level. … I was really playing free and had a lot of support from the crowd. They helped me a lot and got me through the match in the end. I was able to stay calm and, honestly, I enjoyed this match probably the most this week. It was nice.”

Meanwhile, Tien holds a 2-1 lead over the 30-year-old South African-born Briton. All of their previous matches have been played this year on hard-court surfaces. Norrie beat Tien in Hong Kong at the start of the season, then Tien strung together victories in Acapulco and Shanghai. All were straight-set matches.

In his first meeting against Sachko Friday evening, Tien came out aggressively from first ball to last and opened a double-break, 5-0 lead quickly and coasted from there. He struck 17 winners – all but four were forehands – and made just 14 unforced errors. Sachko, who was appearing in his first tour-level semifinal – and was the first Ukrainian man to reach the last four of a tour-level tournament since 2017 – couldn’t crack Tien. He accumulated just eight winners and committing 22 unforced errors. While Sachko was unable to break Tien’s serve, the California teenager broke his Ukrainian opponent three times in seven opportunities. Tien outpointed Sachko 54-36.

“I’ve played a lot of guys this year for the first time, so it’s not super new to me,” Tien said during his on-court interview, after reaching his second tour-level final this year after Beijing, while rising in the rankings to No. 31 after starting the season outside the Top 120. “Obviously, he’s had some great wins this week, so I knew I had to come out and be ready. I thought I played a really clean match today.”

Although Tien was the better player on this occasion, Sachko went from being a lucky loser at the start of the week to a worthy winner of three straight matches by the end. On Monday, the 28-year-old from war-torn Ukraine will see his PIF ATP Ranking take a giant leap from No. 222 to a career-best No. 145 after securing his first three ATP Tour wins.

Like Norrie, Sachko’s been a lucky guy with plenty to enjoy about this week in Metz, too.

Around Les Arenes de Metz

Two seeded teams reached the semifinal round at Metz. That’s one more seed than made the singles semifinals. In the first semifinal No. 2 seeds Sander Arends of the Netherlands and Luke Johnson of Great Britain, winners of two tour-level titles this season – at Hong Kong and Barcelona – took on France’s Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, who reached the semifinals of the Rolex Paris Masters last weekend.

By the end of their one-hour, 28-minute semifinal, the French fans had plenty to cheer about as Halys and Herbert prevailed 6-2, 4-6, 12-10. It was their sixth win in seven matches spread over the past two tournaments they’ve played together. Halys and Herbert saved five of six break points and broke their opponents’ serve twice in nine tries. They outpointed Arends and Johnson 66-57.

The second semifinal, played later Friday, paired Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl of Czechia, who have captured two clay-court titles at Marrakech and Kitzbühel, against No. 3 seeds Guido Andreozzi of Argentina and Manuel Guinard of France, who reached three straight semifinals during this fall’s China swing in Hangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. Andreozzi and Guinard prevailed with a 7-6 (7), 1-6, 10-7 victory in one hour and 15 minutes. 

Friday’s Moselle Open results

Saturday’s Moselle Open order of play

By the numbers

Vitaliy Sachko is the first Ukrainian man to play in an ATP Tour semifinal since Alexandr Dolgopolov at Shenzhen in 2017.

“Quotable …”

“I feel like every single match I have played, every tournament I have played, I have been really been able to take a lot from all of them. I’m really  happy with how I am progressing. I look forward to next year – even though this year isn’t over yet.”

– Learner Tien of the United States, during his on-court interview Thursday, after defeating Matteo Berrettini of Italy to advance to the semifinal round.

 

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