Cameron Norrie wins Indian Wells final to claim biggest title of his life

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Cameron Norrie continued his remarkable year by coming from a set down to win the Indian Wells title.

The 26-year-old defeated Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 to become the first British player to win the tournament, which is regarded as tennis’ unofficial ‘fifth major’.

The win is a landmark one for Norrie, who has risen to a career-high ranking of 15th in the world, and also for British tennis as this victory came just one month after Emma Raducanu’s stunning triumph at the US Open.

Norrie now has a chance of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals, which will take place next month, as he is sat 10th in the race to Turin — with the top eight qualifying.

Rafael Nadal is eighth on that the list but the 20-time Grand Slam singles champion will miss the finals due to a foot injury, raising Norrie’s chances of competing in Italy.

“It means so much to me, my biggest title,” said Norrie, after winning his second trophy of the year and £880,000 in prize-money. “I’m so happy, I can’t even describe it right now. It’s absolutely massive for me and my team. I can’t really believe it.

“I’ve been really enjoying my tennis and really been enjoying being out on court and competing in the big moments.

“I’m just really pleased with how I handled the occasion, and I think I’m doing that a lot better this year. I know I lost in a lot of finals so it’s nice to get the big one today.”

Norrie, who is now the British No1, started this year ranked 74th in the world, but he has been in brilliant form and was so again to defeat Basilashvili.

Cameron Norrie celebrates with girlfriend Louise Jacobi
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He began the match well by breaking Basilashvili to led 3-1 in the first set, but then the Georgian, who is one of the hardest hitters on the circuit, fought back.

Basilashvili eventually broke Norrie twice to claim the opening set 6-3 and he looked in control of the match after claiming an early break of serve in the second, too.

Norrie, however, dug in and produced some of the tennis that has seen him shoot up the ranks. He won the final eight points in a row of the second set to win it 6-4 and never looked back, taking the final one 6-1.

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“For a stage he went through and hit so many winners,” said Norrie. “It was tough for me to get some confidence. The rallies were really short and he was just blasting winners.

“But when I made a couple of big shots in the 5-4 game in the second set it gave me a lot of confidence, and I was able to find my feet again, start moving again, and make the rallies physical like I’ve been doing all tournament and it worked in my favour.”

Norrie was the first British player to reach the final at one of the ATP’s nine elite Masters 1000 events since Andy Murray five years ago.

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