Cameron Norrie stuns world No1 Carlos Alcaraz in biggest scalp of career

This was a notable triumph for British tennis in the post-Andy Murray era. While the Scot enjoyed 12 victories against world No1s during his tremendous career it has been slim pickings on this front in recent years. Before Norrie, Dan Evans was the most recent player from this country to beat a No1, against Novak Djokovic at the 2021 Monte-Carlo Masters.

No matter how the season ends for Norrie, he can take great satisfaction from his rise back up the rankings in the second half of 2025. The combination of an arm injury and confidence issues meant he was in danger of dropping out of the world’s top 100 when he turned up for qualifying at the Geneva Open in May, but he has since put together impressive victories to sit at a projected position of No27.

“It’s massive and so big for me,” he said. “I was coming back with my injury last year and lost in the first round of qualifying here. I have just tried to enjoy my tennis in the second half of the year and I was able to do that.

“To get a win like this, the biggest win in my career and first win over a world No1, and especially against probably the most confident player in the world right now, I am just so pleased with the way I did it. Having a lot of chances and having to keep pushing and going for more, I was able to stay tough and get the win, so I am really pleased.”

Alcaraz has repeatedly complained about the packed schedule in recent weeks and his usual spark was definitely absent on the court on Tuesday. This defeat gives his rival Jannik Sinner the chance to take back the world No1 ranking if he goes on to win the tournament.

“I just didn’t feel well [hitting the ball] today,” Alcaraz said. “A lot of mistakes and I had no feeling at all. I think Norrie played really great tennis today as well, and a solid match. I think that was the key.”

Norrie deserves much credit, though, for making life difficult for his opponent in the second and third sets. His reliable baseline style has a habit of causing Alcaraz some problems, as evidenced by the fact that he now has three wins in eight matches against him after also beating him at the 2022 Cincinnati Masters and 2023 Rio Open.

The key moment came in the third set, when Norrie’s persistence on the Alcaraz serve paid off with a break for 4-3. He then held his nerve on his own serve at 5-4, sealing a memorable victory that sets up a third-round showdown on Thursday against the winner of the cousin derby between Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot and France’s Arthur Rinderknech.

“Honestly, I played a really good first set,” Norrie said. “I felt it was quite close. He just took his chance and I didn’t, and I just wanted to keep pushing.

“It was such a physical match. I’ve been doing some workouts with my fitness trainer Vasek [Jursik] and I was telling my team that this is even tougher than my conditioning sessions. So I felt quite comfortable with that and I just wanted to keep pushing him [Alcaraz]. I saw him talking to his team a lot, so it gave me some confidence.”

Boulter at risk of missing Australian Open

Katie Boulter is on the brink of dropping out of the world’s top 100 and missing out on entry to the Australian Open after retiring from her Hong Kong Open first-round match in tears.

The 29-year-old suffered yet another setback in her dismal season when a leg injury forced her to stop at 6-4, 2-1 down to Alexandra Eala, the world No51 from the Philippines. She had strapping around the left thigh during the match and called for the trainer before crying as she departed the court.

This is a considerable blow for Boulter because she had a large number of world-ranking points to defend this week after finishing as the runner-up in Hong Kong last year. From a present ranking of No79, she will drop to No99 at best.

Other players now have the chance to overtake Boulter in the coming days, potentially putting her outside the top 100 when the rankings are next updated on Monday. This puts her in serious threat of missing out on a place in the main draw of January’s Australian Open and having to go through qualifying.

Boulter did not look completely off the pace against Eala, keeping the first set to a respectable scoreline. She also broke the Eala serve early in the second set before her injury apparently worsened to the extent that there was no point in carrying on.

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