🔗 Share this article

The British tennis star earned the most important victory of his career by rallying from a set down to beat top-ranked player Carlos Alcaraz in three hard-fought sets in the second round of the Paris Masters.

While he had earlier defeated Alcaraz on two prior meetings, this win represents Norrie's maiden win over a reigning world number one.

"Huge. Extremely important for me," said Norrie, who joins as the latest UK male player in history to overcome a world No 1. "Coming back from injury last year, I was defeated in the first round of qualifying rounds here. I just aimed to enjoy my game in the latter part of the year. To get a win like this, it's the biggest success of my professional life, my maiden triumph over the global number one and probably the strongest player in the world right now."

Norrie, positioned No 31, also stopped Alcaraz's supreme sequence of nine straight final appearances and 17 successive elite tournament victories, which represented the top run of performances in the Spanish star's young career.

Contest Analysis

Alcaraz seemed to be moving confidently towards victory early on as he eased through the initial stanza. However, the British contender steadily battled back into contention by executing with greater precision and pulling the Spanish opponent into lengthy, physical rallies. His persistent steadiness and reliability slowly took its toll.

For much of the contest, Alcaraz delivered strong serves but he struggled badly to get his timing right with his rally strokes. The 22-year-old looked particularly uneasy striking his forehand, which has been the best shot in the game for a large part of this year, committing 29 forehand unforced errors and a overall of 54 errors. Opposing him, the British player gave his opponent minimal unforced errors, maintaining his consistency, athleticism and depth the entire contest while delivering effective serves and selecting opportunities to move inside the baseline and play aggressively.

Final Phase

In the nail-biting last moments, Norrie brilliantly kept his nerve to defeat the top competitor in the game.

Personal Background

Following dealing for months due to a serious physical setback and difficulties with his performance, the tennis professional slipped as far down as No 91 this year. After making the advanced stages at the grass-court major and the French Open fourth round after that, this win reinforces the 30-year-old's improvement as he seeks to make his way to the elite rankings and even higher. The Spanish sensation, in spite of his extraordinary success, is yet to solve how to produce his top form in indoor conditions.