Cameron Norrie won the ATP 500 tournament in Rio De Janeiro after making a sensational on Carlos Alcaraz during the Sunday's final.
The Brit took the title despite being a set down and losing 0-3 in second set with a one break gap. Alcaraz, who the clear pre-match favorite with an average odd 1.21, started the match as expected, putting the pressure on Norrie and creating a couple of breakpoints during the opening set. The world's number 13 was defending well and Alcaraz needed 6 attempts to break his serve, which succeeded in 12th game, giving the Spaniard the set win with a score 7-5.
Alcaraz followed the blow and broke Norrie once again after start of second set. The Spaniard was leading 3-0 and having a chance to gain another break, being 0-30 up during Norrie's serve in 4th game. The Brit made a huge hold, which occured to be the turning point in this match. Alcaraz started to feel some issues in the middle of second set. The Spaniard has called up the medical time-out, when he received a treatment in the areas of left thigh - the place which was injured in January and eliminated Alcaraz from all the Australian campaign. The world's number 2 has not give up and came back on court, but the momentum switched rapidly, as Norrie managed to gain three breaks in a row, forcing a decider by winning second set 6-4.
Third set was a great spectacle, as Alcaraz who was seemingly struggling with movements, was still trying to gain his momentum back. The Spaniard tried to adapt to his limitations caused by an injury and attempted to finish the rallies earlier, with more direct on-court solutions and hitting winners after just a few shots. This was working well at the start of the decider, as Alcaraz moved into 2-0 lead. Norrie made another comeback to this match, winning 3 games in a row since then. Both players exchanged 5 breaks and multiple breakpoints during this exciting set, but at the end it was Norrie who fought a decisive break in 11th game and serve out the victory a few minutes later, with a final score 5-7 6-4 7-5.
Hats off for both players, who experienced the ups and downs throughout whole the match. Cameron Norrie showed an amazing spirit of fight, being a way behind his favorized opponent on the scoreline, as barely no one could expect any comeback from the score 5-7 0-3 *0-30 in the second set. Even despite the injury issues faced by Alcaraz, this kind of comeback must be considered as the career's highlight of the best ranked Brit, who achieved his 5th career's title and 2nd on clay, after winning the ATP 250 Lyon tournament in last year.
Here are the final's highlights:
