Former college star Cameron Norrie has played the role of professor this week at the Western & Southern Open, schooling three 19-year-olds on his way to the Cincinnati semi-finals. He stunned third seed Carlos Alcaraz in Friday's quarter-finals as he answered the Spaniard's comeback bid with a turnaround of his own in a 7-6(4), 6-7(4), 6-4 victory.
Norrie, who also beat teens Holger Rune and Ben Shelton this week, surrendered a 4-1 lead in the second set before battling back from 1-3 down in the decider with an unflinching performance in the face of the Spaniard's charge.
While Alcaraz was below his best for stretches of the evening, he produced one of the points of the season at 5/4 in the second-set tie-break. The electric exchange sparked the 19-year-old into life, but Norrie never folded even as he was 10 points from defeat.
With the loss, Alcaraz drops to 17-4 at the ATP Masters 1000s this season and loses the chance to claim his third title at that level on the year — a feat that would have lifted him to a new career-high of World No. 2.
More to follow...
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