Atp 500 Rio de Janeiro, Norris triumphs by beating Alcaraz

Cameron Norrie conquers Rio de Janeiro after an incredible match against Carlos Alcaraz, a match that the Briton had lost at least twice but managed to take home, thus winning the fifth tournament of his career. Norrie thus takes his revenge on Alcaraz in the final lost last week in Buenos Aires, winning the eighteenth match of 2023 (no one like him) and thus ending the unbeaten run of the world number two, who thus fails to confirm himself in the Brazilian ATP 500, won last year, and he can’t even hook Novak Djokovic at the top of the standings, who reaches 378 weeks at number one in the world, an all-time record, in blessed solitude.

The match

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A match that Alcaraz had practically won: after conquering the first set with a bludgeon, 7-5, the phenomenon from Murcia (in the tenth final of his career, the third lost), had flown to 3-0 in the second. When the Rio organizers were already preparing for the award ceremony, Norrie was born again, who not only recovered the break but put in a run of 6 games to 1, winning the set 6-4. The third is a battle: Alcaraz goes ahead 2-0 but Norrie scores 3 games in a row and takes up 3-2 and serves, but the Spaniard is a champion and recovers the break. At this point, all patterns are skipped. Both exhausted (especially the number two in the world, returning after the injury, and also tonight he had problems with his thigh) try to keep up and it’s 5-5, where after a truly absurd game the British make the break, he goes to serve for the match and this time there are no surprises. He finishes 5-7 6-4 7-5 after 2 hours and 41 minutes of play. Norrie, whose most important victory certainly remains that of Indian Wells 2021, surpasses Sinner in the ATP rankings and is in twelfth place. For Alcaraz, certainly not in top form, there would now be Acapulco, but after these two weeks it wouldn’t be surprising if he forfeited.