Cameron Norrie beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 on Sunday to win the Rio Open.
The result was a measure of revenge for the Briton, who had lost to his Spanish opponent in the final of last year’s tournament. Alcaraz had also beaten Norrie in the final of last week’s Argentina Open.
Alcaraz would have tied Novak Djokovic in points at the top of the ATP rankings if he had won on Sunday, although the Serb would still have been No 1 due to other results.
The victory gave Norrie the fifth ATP title of his career, and his first since he won the Lyon Open in May 2022. He did it the hard way on Sunday, coming back from a set and a break down before breaking Alcaraz late in the final set to claim victory. Alcaraz also appeared to be struggling with a leg injury in the latter stages of the match.
“So special to win this one, especially I’d lost a couple finals already this year and I had to do it the tough way,” Norrie said. “A set and a break down and 0-30 on my serve, I was looking done there and I managed to flick a switch and turn it around, so it was a good day.”
Norrie currently leads the tour in wins in 2023, with 18 victories and three losses. As well as the finals of the Rio and Argentina Opens, he lost to Richard Gasquet in the final of the Auckland Open in January.
“The match could have gone either way, but I managed to run a little bit more and it was a really good match. It’s an honour to share the court with you again and compete with you,” Norrie said, addressing Alacaraz at the trophy presentation.
