Sky Sports pundit names the key area Cam Norrie needs to improve after first-round Monte-Carlo exit

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Cam Norrie has crashed out of the Monte-Carlo Masters in the very first round, failing to topple Karen Khachanov in straight sets.

Although he battled well and certainly gave a good account of himself, the power and poise of his opponent proved too much on the day.

However, one pundit was left more critical of Norrie than complimentary of Khachanov.

He highlighted a key weakness that simply must be fixed if he is to continue his progression.

Cam Norrie must improve in one key area

Speaking on Sky Sports Tennis during the British number one’s first-round clash, Giles Muller was rather frank in his assessment of Norrie’s performance.

After all, whilst he performed well against an in-form opponent, his lapses in concentration and failure to capitalise in the big moments left him hamstrung and unable to come through the match with the victory.

It was an encounter of fine margins, and thus they can make all the difference.

Muller would note: ‘A few more unforced errors from Cam Norrie, especially in those important moments because he played well for a big period of this match but when he had chances, those were the moments when he came up with an unforced error.

‘But he had some patches when he played really well so I think it’s been encouraging for him. He just needs to find his consistency.’

Cam Norrie puts up a good fight in Monte-Carlo first round

Although he was dumped out in the first round at the hands of Khachanov, as aforementioned things could have been completely different had he managed to win those small battles at key junctures in the match.

And had he claimed victory, it would have been a hugely impressive one, given the Russian has already enjoyed a few deep runs in 2024 and even lifted the trophy in the Qatar Open.

Norrie, meanwhile, has endured an unpredictable season thus far, enjoying a fine run in the Australian Open, dumping out Casper Ruud and very nearly overcoming Alexander Zverev in a five-set slog, and reaching the semi-finals in Rio.

However, yesterday saw him once again put up a fine fight, falling short 7-5, 7-6 (7). With four breaks, the match was there for the taking too, but unfortunately it was Khachanov who came out on top.

Regardless, the 28-year-old can take heart from his performance, safe in the knowledge that he can more than trouble some of the world’s best. His game just requires a little bit of fine-tuning before he can truly challenge for elite titles though.