October 14, (THEWILL) – After thrashing Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2 in the quarter-finals of the Indian Wells Masters, Cameron Norrie will become the new British number one.
With his 45th win of the season, the 26-year-old is almost certain to break into the top 20 for the first time. He will play either Grigor Dimitrov or Hubert Hurkacz in his first Masters 1000 semi-final .
Norrie put on a ruthless performance in the first set, setting the tone right away by breaking to 15 in the first game, before repeating the trick in the third game, this time to love.
Norrie was already in command, with 89 percent of points on his first serve going his way, but in the fifth game, he broke the set for the third time and wrapped up the bagel in under 31 minutes in the California sun.
In the first set, Schwartzman could not stand up to his opponent’s ferocity, but after a longer break to collect his thoughts, he was back on the court at the start of the second, holding his serve and ironically goading the crowd.
Norrie responded with a magnificent drop shot at the net at full stretch after the Argentine’s baseline slice.
Schwartzman was on the attack, but it was clear he was trying a little too hard when he dropped serve in the third game, thumping an easy winner long to hand Norrie the break.
With a new t-shirt, the 11th seed was back in the set, taking Norrie to 0-40 before converting the third break point to tie the match at 2-2. Norrie went on to win the next four games to close the game.
“It was such a big moment playing my first Masters 1000 quarter-final,” Norrie said in his post-match interview. “So pleased to be through, it’s probably the biggest match and the biggest win of my career, with all the circumstances and all the pressures and I was really happy with how I handled everything.”
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Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
