Hindustan Times (East UP)

Basilashvi­li, Norrie in Indian Wells final

- Sportsdesk@hindustant­imes.com

INDIAN WELLS: Nikoloz Basilashvi­li beat American Taylor Fritz 7-6 (5), 6-3 to set up a final against Cameron Norrie at the BNP Paribas Open, which will crown its first men’s winner ranked outside the top 25 since 2010. Norrie of Britain beat Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 6-2, 6-2 in an 86-minute semi-final. Basilashvi­li needed 1 hour, 41 minutes to get by Fritz, who grew up in the San Diego area and was the clear favourite of the fans.

The combined ATP and WTA tournament has been filled with upsets during its two-week run in the fall instead of its usual March date. Top seeds Daniil Medvedev and Karolina Pliskova were among the fallen in an event missing Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams. It’s the first time in the tournament’s 45-year history that all four men’s semi-finalists were ranked outside of the top 25. Norrie is 25th, Dimitrov 28th, Basilashvi­li 36th and Fritz 39th.

The last man outside the top 25 to win Indian Wells was No. 26 Ivan Ljubicic in 2010.

Fritz was trying to reach the final and have a shot at becoming the tournament’s first American winner since Andre Agassi in 2001. Instead, the 23-year-old fell to 0-5 in semi-finals this year.

Basilashvi­li earned the first break of the match in the sixth game and then held for a 5-2 lead. Fritz dropped one point on his serve in the next game to close to 5-3.

Basilashvi­li couldn’t convert on his first three match points. His unforced errors gave Fritz two break points before Basilashvi­li’s forehand winner into the open court closed out the win. Basilashiv­ili is the first player from the former Soviet republic of Georgia to reach a Masters 1000 final.

In the first semi-final, there were four service breaks in the first set, with Norrie earning three of them. Norrie converted the only break of the second set in the first game when the Bulgarian netted a forehand. Norrie’s forehand down-the-line winner gave him a 4-2 lead and he served out the match at love.

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