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Cameron Norrie kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals with a dominant victory over Federico Delbonis in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters.

The British No 1 suffered a painful loss to Felix Auger-Aliassime in Vienna last week having held three match points but began strongly in the French capital, winning nine games in a row in a 6-2 6-1 victory over Argentinian Delbonis.

It was Norrie's 100th tour-level win, 49 of which have come this year.

The 26-year-old told Amazon Prime Video: 'I know the score looked fairly comfortable but there were a lot of tough games in there. I felt I played a pretty complete match and really enjoyed my tennis again. It was far from easy but I was happy with my performance.'

Cameron Norrie (above) beat Federico Delbonis in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters

Norrie won 6-2 6-1 against the Argentine (above) to keep his ATP Finals hopes alive

Norrie sits 11th in the race to qualify for the eight-man season-ending tournament in Turin and needs to make up 140 points on Italian Jannik Sinner over the next two weeks.

'It's pretty cool just to be in the race for that and to be playing these matches with a little added pressure and a little added motivation,' said Norrie, who hit another career-high ranking of 13th on Monday.

'You're kind of watching what everyone else is doing and I think it's pretty interesting and it's exactly where I want to be and the matches I want to be playing.'

The British No 1 sits 11th in the race to qualify for the eight-man tournament in Turin

The Brit's defeat to Auger-Aliassime in Vienna had dealt a blow to his ATP Finals hopes as he came crashing down from his Indian Wells win. 

Norrie was in command when he moved to a 6-3 lead in the second-set tiebreak, but lost the next five points and ended up going down 2-6, 7-6, 6-4. 

Not only did defeat for the Indian Wells champion keep Auger-Aliassime in the hunt for one of two remaining spots, it also left Norrie with more to do this week in Paris. 

But Norrie bounced back at the final qualifying campaign as he kickstarted his Paris Masters campaign with a win.   

The Brit exited the Vienna Open after a stunning fightback from Felix Auger-Aliassime

Sixth seed Auger-Aliassime saved three match points, and converted a third of his own to win

The coming days will most probably decide whether he becomes an unlikely qualifier for Turin as he starts near the back of what seems to be a five-horse race for the two spots. 

Casper Rudd, Jannick Sinner, Hubert Hurkacz and Auger-Aliassime are all in contention with only the Canadian behind Norrie.  

Norrie must look to reach the last eight at this week's points-rich event to have a realistic chance of making it to the finals and he may also have to rely on his rivals above him slipping up early, unless he goes on another tear all the way to the weekend. 

His match against World No 41 Delbonis was the kinder of some opening rounds, with the Argentinian losing his eight previous matches. In the second round he will face either American Reilly Opelka or Serbia's Filip Krajinovic.