🔗 Share this article

The British tennis star earned the most notable win of his professional journey by rallying from a lost first set to beat top-ranked player Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the prestigious indoor tournament.

Even though he had previously defeated Alcaraz on two separate matches, this victory represents Norrie's initial success over a current world No 1.

"Enormous. Extremely important for me," said Norrie, who becomes the latest British man in history to defeat a global number one. "Coming back from injury last year, I fell in the first round of qualifiers here. I just tried to embrace my performance in the latter part of the year. To get a win like this, it's the greatest success of my career, my first win over the global number one and probably the strongest athlete in the tennis scene right now."

Norrie, seeded 31st globally, also ended Alcaraz's dominant sequence of nine finals in a row and 17 straight elite tournament successes, which was the finest stretch of performances in the young champion's developing career.

Contest Breakdown

Alcaraz seemed to be moving confidently to success early on as he eased through the first set. Nevertheless, Norrie slowly worked himself back into the game by delivering with greater precision and engaging the Spanish opponent into lengthy, physical exchanges. His unceasing steadiness and reliability slowly made an impact.

For much of the contest, Alcaraz served well but he struggled badly to find his timing off his groundstrokes. The rising talent seemed particularly uncomfortable hitting his forehand, which has been the most effective stroke in the sport for a large part of this season, committing 29 forehand unforced errors and a combined of 54 mistakes. Opposing him, Norrie presented his opponent minimal unforced errors, sustaining his consistency, athleticism and penetration throughout while delivering effective serves and choosing his moments to move forward and strike effectively.

Final Stages

In the nail-biting closing stages, Norrie expertly held his composure to close out the best player in the world.

Professional Journey

After struggling for months due to a serious arm issue and difficulties with his form, the tennis professional dropped as far down as 91st in the rankings this season. Having reached the quarter-finals at the grass-court major and the French Open round of 16 since then, this win further underlines the experienced player's improvement as he attempts to return to the world's top twenty and even higher. Alcaraz, notwithstanding his incredible accomplishments, is yet to solve how to produce his top form on indoor courts.