Lyon Open: Cameron Norrie upsets second seed John Isner; Gilles Simon strikes 11 aces to edge past Mikhail Kukushkin

Britain’s Cameron Norrie beat second seed John Isner 7-6(1), 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Lyon Open on Thursday to record his first victory over a player in the ATP top 10. [caption id=“attachment_4482475” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Cameron Norrie. Reuters[/caption] The 22-year-old saved all four break points he faced against the big-serving American, who is ranked 10th in the world, to set up a semi-final with Gilles Simon after the Frenchman battled past Kazakhstan’s Mikhail Kukushkin 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). “I’m so stoked with my performance today,” Norrie said. “In the past I haven’t been so good at playing guys with big serves. “I remember watching Isner when I was younger. He was a big idol of mine. It’s crazy to be competing against guys like that now.” The win means Norrie will break into the top 100 when the latest ATP rankings are released next week. Simon struck 11 aces as he edged Kukushkin in two hours and 37 minutes. Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic beat American Taylor Fritz in 7-5, 6-1 but will only discover his semi-final opponent on Friday after top seed Dominic Thiem’s quarter-final with Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez was suspended due to darkness. Thiem, the only seed left in the draw, lost the first set tiebreak 7-6(4) but bounced back to win the second 7-6(0) in another tiebreak and level the match before play was suspended.