Twelve months after stepping on to the Tour as a full-time professional, with a strong left arm and no fear, Cameron Norrie is preparing to play the world No 16, Lucas Pouille, in front of the Frenchman’s home crowd on a show court at Roland Garros in the second round of the French Open.

There are kids making pottery that have more experience with clay than the 22-year-old. However, if he was expected to be overawed on a muggy Monday afternoon against the world No 43, Peter Gojowczyk, he showed no signs of it, breezing past the German in 41 minutes.

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Gojowczyk, who is in excellent form having reached the Geneva Open final at the weekend, was down 1-6, 0-2 and 15-40 when he retired with a groin strain after Britain’s latest prodigy wrong-footed him with an artful and unreachable forehand.

“I think that was the best tennis I have played in my life,” Norrie said, his New Zealand accent now masked by an international mix. “I was in the zone and not making any unforced errors, dictating play. I think if he’s winning, there’s no chance he’s retiring. I got my first win [in a major] with a retirement as well, so it would be nice actually to win a match. But I’ll take it.”

As for his French adventure, he said, “I didn’t come here [last year] because I didn’t want to start my career with a loss on clay. I had never played [on it]. I headed straight to London and got ready for the grass. I was just taking it one step at a time.”

Those steps have been huge ones for the son of a Scottish father and Welsh mother, who have been stalwart supporters of his development in their adopted country, then his move to London, and they backed his decision to quit college in Texas to pursue his career.

The world No 10, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, stopped him in the first round at Wimbledon and he won a challenger in the United States before the wily Russian Dmitry Tursunov gave up on him in the first round at Flushing Meadows.

Norrie’s learning curve steepened dramatically in Marbella in February when, against all expectations, he came from two sets down in his first Tour-level match on clay to beat Roberto Bautista Agut on his Davis Cup debut for Great Britain against Spain. Andy Murray described it as “one of the most amazing wins I have ever seen”.

Norrie, who has worked his way assiduously from the 200s into the top 100, said: “This time last year I would be very excited to be ranked 85 in the world and in the second round of the French Open, that’s for sure. The thing about tennis is you always want more. You get to 85 and you want to be top 50.”

He was on fire against the experienced Gojowczyk. The form he found to beat John Isner in Lyon last week, his first win against a top-10 player, remained in place as he polished off the first set in 24 minutes. Norrie placed his groundstrokes with care and force, with only two unforced errors, and served efficiently. He struck four aces and landed 21 of 31 first serves for a 71% win ratio, and was equally sound on second serve.

Norrie has had the advantage of being a relatively unknown quantity in the locker room, although word of his Marbella heroics spread quickly, and his move to the UK is changing his profile. He may soon be exposed to the weight of further expectation, especially if he gives Pouille a convincing challenge on Wednesday.

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Pouille, two years older, announced his arrival two years ago in majors with a string of excellent wins against quality opposition. On Sunday, he conceded only nine games against the Russian Daniil Medvedev to reach the second round at his home major, where he has a 4-5 career record.

Heather Watson sails into second round

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Heather Watson celebrates beating Océane Dodin 6-3, 6-0. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Heather Watson, who broke a run of eight Tour defeats last week, continued her positive momentum at the French Open on Monday when she beat Océane Dodin 6-3, 6-0 in just over an hour on Court No 3.

It was her sixth first-round win at Roland Garros, and she desperately wants to build on that on Wednesday. Having not won a set since 27 February before her redemptive win in Nuremberg, she struck nine aces and 18 clean winners while dominating the short rallies. She won 27 of 32 points on first serve. It kept her French opponent constantly guessing.

“I started a little nervous,” Watson said courtside. “I was feeling really confident coming in, and loosened up. I played really, really well. It was tough to close it out. You could feel the rain coming. Throwing the ball up to serve I kept getting water in my eyes.

“I was happy with my level throughout the whole match. Despite my season, I was feeling so confident coming into the match because I’ve done everything to prepare to the best of my ability.”

Dodin played a curious first set, breaking at the start and throwing it away under quality pressure half an hour later. Watson remained calm after dropping serve and worked her way back into the contest, helped by the profligacy of her opponent, who served four double-faults, seven times in all, and converted only one of six break opportunities.

Watson made the most of her early chances then blitzed Dodin in the second, despite a minor wobble in the final moments.