Cameron Norrie wins maiden Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells
Great Britain's Cameron Norrie won the 2021 BNP Paribas Open after claiming a three-set victory over Nikoloz Basilashvili on Sunday. The 26-year-old clinched his first ATP Masters 1000 title, the biggest of his career, after beating Basilashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-1. Norrie became the first man ranked outside the Top 25 to win at Indian Wells since Ivan Ljubicic in 2010. Here are further details.
Here are the stats of the match
In a match that panned out for nearly two hours, Norrie won 79 points. He won 63% of the break points. Basilashvili struck two aces in the match. Besides, the former recorded his second ATP head-to-head victory over Basilashvili.
First British man to win the Indian Wells Masters
Norrie became the first British man to win the Indian Wells Masters. Interestingly, he had not won a match in his two previous main draw appearances here. He recorded wins over Tennys Sandgren, Roberto Bautista Agut, Tommy Paul, Diego Schwartzman, Grigor Dimitrov, and Basilashvili throughout the tournament. The win in the finale has catapulted him to a career-high number 16 in the ATP Rankings.
Norrie elated to win his biggest title
"It means so much to me, my biggest title. I'm so happy. I can't even describe it right now," Norrie said after the match. "It was a strange match today but absolutely massive for me and my team. I can't really believe it. If you'd have told me I'd have won before the tournament started I wouldn't have believed you, so it's amazing."
Norrie and Basilashvili were ranked outside the Top 25
It was the second ATP Masters 1000 final of 2021 between players ranked outside the Top 25. Hubert Hurkacz and Jannik Sinner were the finalists in the first such final (in Miami). Hurkacz had defeated Sinner to win the Miami Open.
A look at the feats attained by Norrie
Norrie reached his sixth ATP Tour final in 2021, the joint-most with Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev this season (including ATP Cup). The former is the fourth player ranked outside the Top 25 to to win the BNP Paribas Open since the tournament moved to Indian Wells in 1987. Norrie is the first left-hander to win this title title since Rafael Nadal in 2013.
