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Cameron Norrie earned the most important 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.

Even though he had before defeated Alcaraz on two occasions, this win signifies Norrie's first ever success over a reigning world No 1.

"Enormous. Extremely important for me," commented Norrie, who is now the newest UK male player in the record books to beat a world No 1. "Bouncing back from a physical setback last year, I fell in the first round of qualifiers here. I just sought to appreciate my performance in the second half of the year. To get a victory like this, it's the greatest victory of my professional life, my initial victory over the global number one and probably the most in-form athlete in the world right now."

Norrie, seeded 31st in the world, also halted Alcaraz's supreme sequence of nine finals in a row and 17 successive Masters 1000 successes, which marked the best series of results in the Spanish star's developing professional path.

Game Overview

Alcaraz seemed to be progressing easily to success at the start as he eased in the initial stanza. However, Norrie steadily worked himself into the match by delivering with sharper placement and pulling the Spaniard into prolonged, demanding exchanges. His persistent steadiness and dependability gradually left its mark.

Through most of the match, Alcaraz served well but he found it challenging to find his timing with his rally strokes. The young star looked especially uneasy executing his primary weapon, which has been the most effective stroke in the world for a large part of this year, committing 29 forehand unforced errors and a combined of 54 errors. On the other side, the British player offered Alcaraz so few mistakes, keeping up his reliability, physicality and penetration all match while delivering effective serves and selecting opportunities to move inside the baseline and strike effectively.

Decisive Phase

In the tense final games, the British competitor expertly maintained his calm to defeat the world's finest in the game.

Personal Background

Following dealing for a long time due to a serious physical setback and struggles with his game, the tennis professional fell as far down as 91st globally this year. Having reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon and the French Open fourth round since then, this win reinforces the 30-year-old's development as he aims to make his way to the elite rankings and beyond. The Spanish sensation, in spite of his remarkable success, is yet to solve how to deliver his finest performance on indoor courts.