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Cameron Norrie earned the biggest success of his professional journey by coming back from a lost first set to beat world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz with a stunning comeback in the second round of the prestigious indoor tournament.

While he had earlier defeated Alcaraz on two separate matches, this win represents Norrie's initial victory over a sitting world No 1.

"Huge. So big for me," stated Norrie, who joins as the latest British man in history to beat a top-ranked player. "Coming back from health issues last year, I lost in the first round of qualifiers here. I just sought to enjoy my tennis in the second half of the year. To secure a victory like this, it's the most significant victory of my career, my initial victory over the top player and arguably the most in-form competitor in the world right now."

The British player, positioned No 31, also halted Alcaraz's impressive run of nine consecutive finals and 17 consecutive Masters 1000 wins, which was the best series of results in the Spaniard's early professional path.

Match Overview

The top seed seemed to be advancing smoothly towards victory at the start as he cruised past the first set. However, Norrie gradually battled back into contention by delivering with improved accuracy and engaging the Spanish opponent into prolonged, grueling points. His relentless shot tolerance and reliability gradually made an impact.

For much of the contest, the world number one performed well on serve but he struggled badly to get his timing right off his groundstrokes. The young star seemed particularly struggling executing his primary weapon, which has been the top weapon in the sport for a large part of this season, haemorrhaging 29 mistakes off the forehand side and a total of 54 mistakes. Across the net, the British player presented his opponent very few errors, maintaining his consistency, athleticism and penetration throughout while delivering effective serves and choosing his moments to advance forward and play aggressively.

Closing Phase

In the tense closing stages, the British competitor superbly held his calm to close out the best player in the world.

Personal Context

Following battling for months due to a major physical setback and challenges with his game, Norrie fell as far down as 91st globally this season. After making the advanced stages at the grass-court major and the clay-court Grand Slam fourth round since then, this triumph highlights the 30-year-old's development as he attempts to come back to the top 20 and even higher. The Spanish sensation, notwithstanding his remarkable achievements, is yet to solve how to produce his finest performance in indoor conditions.