Norrie ousts Alcaraz in marathon match to reach Cincinnati semifinals

The brilliant run of Cameron Norrie continued on Friday night at the Western & Southern Open, as the Brit stunned third seed Carlos Alcaraz to reach the semifinals.

Norrie produced some spectacular tennis in the 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 6-4 victory, earning his first win in four tries against the Spaniard. The first set saw neither man lose serve, and it was Norrie who came up with the big shots to obtain a minibreak. This was enough for the ninth seed to clinch the opening set.

Not one to be deterred so easily, Alcaraz roared to life the second. The Miami champion raced to a 4-1 lead, but was unable to close out the set. Norrie rallied back to level the score and force another tiebreak. However, Alcaraz's brilliant serve performance saw the third seed prevail, leading to a decider.

With momentum on his side, it was Alcaraz who obtained the early break to establish a 3-1 lead. However, those are difficult to notably difficult to hang onto, as Norrie fought back to level the score, before taking advantage of his opponent's inconsistent play to break a second time. This was sufficient for the World No.11, who proceeded to seal his victory after just over three hours.

Having defeated three 19-year olds in Holger Rune, Ben Shelton and Alcaraz en route to the semifinal, Norrie is set to face the red-hot Borna Coric, who ousted 22-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the second round.