🔗 Share this article

The British tennis star achieved the most notable victory of his professional journey by rebounding from a set down to beat world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the prestigious indoor tournament.

Even though he had before overcome Alcaraz on two occasions, this win marks Norrie's initial win over a sitting world number one.

"Huge. Extremely important for me," said Norrie, who is now the newest English competitor in the record books to overcome a top-ranked player. "Bouncing back from injury last year, I was defeated in the first round of qualies here. I just aimed to enjoy my tennis in the latter part of the year. To achieve a win like this, it's the most significant win of my career, my first win over the top player and arguably the most confident competitor in the sport right now."

The British player, ranked No 31, also ended Alcaraz's impressive run of nine finals in a row and 17 consecutive Masters 1000 wins, which was the top run of results in the Spaniard's early career.

Contest Analysis

The top seed seemed to be moving confidently to success in the beginning as he eased through the opening set. Yet, the British contender slowly worked himself back into the game by delivering with improved accuracy and dragging the Spaniard into lengthy, grueling rallies. His relentless consistency and consistency slowly left its mark.

For much of the contest, the world number one served well but he had difficulty to locate his rhythm with his rally strokes. The 22-year-old seemed notably uncomfortable hitting his forehand, which has been the most effective stroke in the sport for most of this season, haemorrhaging 29 forehand unforced errors and a overall of 54 mistakes. Opposing him, the British player presented Alcaraz very few errors, sustaining his consistency, physicality and depth all match while delivering effective serves and selecting opportunities to advance inside the baseline and play aggressively.

Closing Moments

In the tight final games, the British competitor superbly held his composure to overcome the world's finest in the world.

Career Context

Following battling for a long time due to a major arm issue and challenges with his game, Norrie slipped as low as No 91 this season. Having reached the advanced stages at Wimbledon and the clay-court Grand Slam round of 16 after that, this triumph further underlines the veteran's progress as he aims to return to the world's top twenty and further. Alcaraz, notwithstanding his extraordinary achievements, is yet to solve how to produce his finest performance indoors.