Cameron Norrie produced the greatest win of his career as he recovered from a set down to topple the world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the Paris Masters.
Although he has defeated Alcaraz on two previous occasions, Norrie’s triumph marks his first ever victory over a reigning No 1.
“Massive. So big for me,” said Norrie, who becomes the fifth British man in history to defeat a world No 1. “Coming back from injury last year, I lost in the first round of qualies here. I just tried to enjoy my tennis in the second half of the year. To get a win like this, it’s the biggest win of my career, my first win over the world No 1 and probably the most confident player in the world right now.”
Norrie, ranked No 31, has also ended Alcaraz’s supreme run of nine consecutive finals and 17 consecutive Masters 1000 wins, the best series of results in the Spaniard’s young career.
He appeared to be moving confidently towards victory early on as he eased through the opening set against the British No 2. However, Norrie gradually worked himself into the match by serving with greater precision and dragging the Spaniard into prolonged, physical rallies. His relentless shot tolerance and consistency gradually left its mark.
For much of the contest, Alcaraz served well but he struggled badly to find his timing off his groundstrokes. The 22-year-old looked particularly uncomfortable striking his forehand, the best shot in the world for much of this year, haemorrhaging 29 forehand unforced errors and a total of 54 unforced errors. Across the net, Norrie offered Alcaraz so few mistakes, maintaining his consistency, physicality and depth throughout while serving efficiently and choosing his moments to force himself inside the baseline and attack well.
In the tense final games, Norrie brilliantly maintained his composure to close out the best player in the world.
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After struggling for months due to a significant left forearm injury and struggles with his form, Norrie fell as low as No 91 this year. Having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the French Open fourth round since then, this win further underlines the 30-year-old’s progress as he attempts to return to the top 20 and beyond. Alcaraz, despite his incredible success, is yet to figure out how to produce his best tennis indoors.
