Britain’s Cameron Norrie said his win over Carlos Alcaraz was “the biggest of my career” after beating the world number one to reach the last 16 of the Paris Masters.
Norrie, who lost to the Spaniard in straight sets at Wimbledon earlier this year, fought back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the ATP Masters 1,000 tournament in Paris.
“This is a huge win for me,” said Norrie, who missed both the Paris Olympics and the US Open last year because of a forearm injury.
“I lost in the first round of qualifying here last year. Coming back from injury, I’ve just been trying to enjoy my tennis again. To get my first win over a world number one — and probably the most confident player in the world right now — I’m really happy with how I did it.”
After Alcaraz took the first set, Norrie responded strongly, breaking early in the second to level the match.
In the final set, the British number one hit a brilliant backhand pass to break Alcaraz’s serve and then held on, saving two break points to seal victory.
“I went for a walk this morning with my coach, and we talked about what I’d need to do if I was serving for the match,” Norrie said. “I was really nervous when serving for the match against Baez yesterday, but today I told myself I deserved to be here. It was a nice walk — an important one.”
Norrie, ranked world number 31, will next face the winner of the all-French tie between wildcards and cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech.
Alcaraz, who made 54 unforced errors, was returning from an ankle injury and playing his first match since winning the Japan Open in September. The defeat could see him lose his top ranking if Italy’s Jannik Sinner goes on to win the tournament.
“I’m really disappointed with how I played,” Alcaraz said. “Even in the first set, I knew I could do much better. But credit to Cam — he played a very solid match, and that made the difference.”