Britain’s Cameron Norrie began his clay-court season on a winning note with a 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-0) victory over Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters.

After dominating the opening set, Norrie, who had not won a match at the tournament since 2019, struggled in the second. He dropped serve three times, including in his final two service games.

The decider proved tense, with the Briton broken by the world number 58 when serving for the match at 5-4 ahead.

But in the tie-break it was world number 24 Norrie – British number one again after leapfrogging Jack Draper in March – who raised his game to come through.

The 30-year-old will next face a rematch with Australian world number six Alex de Minaur, whom he defeated on his way to the quarter-finals in Indian Wells last month.