US Open 2022: Cameron Norrie vs. Joao Sousa Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 US Open as Cameron Norrie takes on Joao Sousa in the second round on Thursday, September 1st, 2022.

Will Cameron Norrie motor into the third round of the US Open? The Briton faces a very comfortable second-round match, at least on paper, against Portugal’s Joao Sousa. Will Norrie prevail?

Cameron Norrie tore Benoit Paire to shreds in his first round, winning 6-0 7-6 6-0. While the brutal scoreline was more of Norrie’s brilliance shining, Paire did offer a helping hand. The inconsistent Frenchman sprayed 57 unforced errors in the 94-minute contest. Paire coughed up 12 double faults in total and remarkably, three of them came in the tiebreak in the second set when he took the game to Norrie only to undo his good work. The Briton will now vie to reach the third round of the US Open for just the second time in six main draw appearances when he faces a surprise name on Thursday.

Joao Sousa, for his part, scored a shock win over Mackenzie McDonald to book his spot in the second round of the US Open for the first time since 2018. Sousa has enjoyed a career resurgence in 2022, highlighted by winning his first ATP title in four years in Pune at the start of February. However, none foresaw the form that enabled him to come from behind to defeat McDonald, particularly after winning just once since the French Open.

Cameron Norrie leads the head-to-head over Joao Sousa 2-0. That includes a first-round win in Sousa’s home tournament of Estoril last season. Sousa produced a herculean effort to win his first-round match which in truth was a major shock consideringhis recent poor form. Norrie is playing the best tennis of his career right now and has joined a gaudy list of Britons (along with Murray, Rusedski and Tim Henman) to break the world’s top 10. There is only one result here and there is hardly any dispute.