At 500 Rio de Janeiro, Norris triumphs by defeating Alcaraz

Cameron Norrie conquered Rio de Janeiro after an incredible match against Carlos Alcaraz, a match the Brit lost at least twice but took home, winning the fifth tournament of his career. Norrie thus takes revenge on Alcaraz in the lost final in Buenos Aires last week, winning the eighteenth game of 2023 (none like him) and thus ending the unbeaten run of 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 in blessed solitude is world number one for 378 weeks, an all-time record.

The match

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A match that Alcaraz practically won: after conquering the first set 7-5 with a stick, the phenomenon from Murcia (in the tenth final of his career, having lost the third) flew to 3-0 in the second. As Rio organizers geared up for the awards ceremony, Norrie was reborn, not only catching the break but also putting on a 6-game to 1 run to win the set 6-4. The third is a fight: Alcaraz takes a 2-0 lead but Norrie scores 3 straight games and records 3-2 and serves but the Spaniard is a champion and reclaims the break. At this point, all patterns are skipped. Both exhausted (especially the world no. he goes to serve for the game and this time there are no surprises. It ends 5-7 6-4 7-5 after 2 hours and 41 minutes of play. Norrie, whose most important victory is certainly Indian Wells 2021, overtakes Sinner in the ATP ranking and is in twelfth place. For Alcaraz, certainly not in top form, would now be Acapulco, but after these two weeks it would not be surprising if he were to retire.