🔗 Share this article

Cameron Norrie secured the most important success of his professional journey by rebounding from a lost first set to overcome world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the early stage of the Paris Masters.

While he had before beaten Alcaraz on two occasions, this win marks Norrie's initial win over a reigning world No 1.

"Enormous. So big for me," said Norrie, who is now the newest English competitor in the record books to overcome a global number one. "Coming back from injury last year, I fell in the opening stage of qualifiers here. I just tried to embrace my tennis in the latter part of the year. To get a win like this, it's the biggest victory of my professional life, my initial victory over the world No 1 and likely the most confident athlete in the tennis scene right now."

The British player, seeded No 31, also ended Alcaraz's dominant streak of nine consecutive finals and 17 straight elite tournament wins, which marked the top run of outcomes in the Spanish star's developing career.

Match Overview

The top seed appeared to be moving confidently to a win in the beginning as he sailed in the first set. However, Norrie steadily fought his way back into the game by executing with greater precision and dragging the Spanish opponent into prolonged, grueling points. His unceasing consistency and dependability gradually took its toll.

For much of the contest, the world number one performed well on serve but he had difficulty to find his timing with his rally strokes. The young star seemed especially uncomfortable striking his signature shot, which has been the top weapon in the sport for most of this year, producing 29 forehand miscues and a combined of 54 mistakes. Opposing him, Norrie gave his opponent minimal unforced errors, maintaining his consistency, physicality and depth all match while delivering effective serves and selecting opportunities to move forward and play aggressively.

Final Phase

In the nail-biting closing stages, Norrie superbly kept his calm to defeat the best player in the game.

Career Journey

After struggling for months due to a significant physical setback and struggles with his performance, the tennis professional dropped as far down as 91st in the rankings this season. Following appearances in the last eight at Wimbledon and the clay-court Grand Slam round of 16 since then, this triumph further underlines the 30-year-old's development as he seeks to return to the world's top twenty and even higher. The Spanish sensation, in spite of his extraordinary accomplishments, is still hasn't solve how to produce his best tennis indoors.