Former college star Cameron Norrie played the role of professor at the Western & Southern Open this week, tutoring three 19-year-olds on his way to the Cincinnati semifinals.
And in a thrilling quarter-final showdown, the British challenger taught third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz a lesson in staying the course as he tacked the Spaniard’s comeback bid with a tack of his own in a 7-6(4), 6-7(4). ) answered ), 6-4 win.
Norrie, 26, who also defeated teenagers Holger Rune and Ben Shelton this week, gave up a 4-1 lead in the second set before breaking away from attack with an unwavering performance from 3-1 down in the deciding set of the Spaniard fought back.
While Alcaraz was at times below his best that night, he scored one of the points of the season with 5/4 in the tiebreak of the second set. The electric exchange brought the 19-year-old to life, but Norrie never folded despite being 10 points from defeat.
As he showed in his earlier three-setter against Andy Murray, his composure is one of the fundamental qualities that has propelled Norrie to the top of his game.
In that match against his compatriot, Norrie’s head didn’t sag, his shoulders didn’t sag and he still came out positive from his toilet break after the first set. After three tough, physical sets against the former world No. 1, Norrie progressed.
While the Brit didn’t play the flashy style of tennis Alcaraz had beaten him with in each of his previous three encounters, he frustrated his opponent with his consistent play on center court, patiently grinding off the baseline and capitalizing on his hard-earned chances on court to step.
“It’s tough because he can take the racquet out of your hands completely,” Norrie said, discussing his 25 wins and 30 errors in the match. “When he dictates with the forehand it’s really tough and you run a lot.
“I just had to try to put the ball in awkward positions on the pitch,” Norrie explained. “I managed to serve well, I’ve improved a lot in my previous games.”
But Norrie reacted immediately and didn’t face another break point, earning the crucial break in the ninth game of the set. The Briton has moved up two spots to 9th in the Pepperstone ATP Live rankings this week and has moved up three spots to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.
With the loss, Alcaraz falls to 17-4 at the ATP Masters 1000 this season and loses a chance to capture his third title at that level this year – a feat that would have propelled him to a new career high of world No. 2 .
Instead, he remains at No. 4 on the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, giving Stefanos Tsitsipas a chance to overtake him with the Cincinnati title. However, Alcaraz has a chance to rise to world No. 1 at the US Open starting August 29.
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