It was an amazing couple of weeks – victorious Cam
CAMERON Norrie made his contribution to a remarkable few weeks for British tennis by becoming the first player from this country to win the prestigious BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.
The 26-year-old came from a set down to defeat Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, earning himself one of the biggest titles on the ATP Tour and around £880,000 in prize money.
While not quite on a par with Emma Raducanu’s US Open win, Norrie’s success in the Californian desert has elevated him to a new high of 15th in the world rankings having started the year down as low at 71.
It was his second title in his sixth final of 2021, and a delighted Norrie said: “I still don’t really know what I’m experiencing.
“It was an amazing couple weeks and I’m so happy with how I treated all the occasions, all the big moments, all the matches. I’m so pleased to win my biggest title.”
The new British number one is also firmly in contention to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals – an incredible achievement given he did not make it past the third round at any of the grand slams.
The top eight players of the year will make up the field in Turin and Norrie now sits in tenth, 160 points behind Hubert Hurkacz, with Rafael Nadal certain to miss the event due to a foot injury.
Norrie pulled out of this week’s tournament in Antwerp but will play in Vienna, Paris and Stockholm over the next month.
He admitted: “It would be nice to make it, but I’m going to keep going, keep taking care of what I can and handling what I can. We’ll see.
“I’m looking forward to the indoor season. I really like the courts. I’ve never really made a deep run in one of those tournaments, but I always play well. I always lose tight matches.
“Hopefully those can swing in my favour this year.”
Meanwhile, world number 21 Paula Badosa ground out a three-set win over Victoria Azarenka to win the women’s event. The 23-year-old Spaniard belied her inexperience by finishing strongly against the former world number one, prevailing 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 7-6 (7-2).