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The British tennis star earned the biggest success of his career by coming back from a lost first set to overcome world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz with a stunning comeback in the early stage of the Paris Masters.

Although he had previously overcome Alcaraz on two prior meetings, this triumph signifies Norrie's maiden success over a current world No 1.

"Massive. Incredibly significant for me," said Norrie, who is now the newest British man in history to beat a global number one. "Returning from health issues last year, I lost in the first round of qualifiers here. I just aimed to appreciate my performance in the closing months of the year. To secure a win like this, it's the most significant victory of my professional life, my initial victory over the global number one and likely the most confident athlete in the tennis scene right now."

Norrie, ranked 31st in the world, also ended Alcaraz's supreme sequence of nine consecutive finals and 17 consecutive elite tournament wins, which was the top run of results in the young champion's young professional path.

Contest Overview

The top seed seemed to be moving confidently towards victory in the beginning as he eased in the first set. Yet, Norrie steadily worked himself back into the game by executing with improved accuracy and dragging the Spaniard into lengthy, physical exchanges. His unceasing steadiness and consistency slowly left its mark.

During large parts of the battle, Alcaraz served well but he found it challenging to find his timing with his rally strokes. The young star seemed notably struggling striking his primary weapon, which has been the best shot in the sport for most of this year, haemorrhaging 29 forehand unforced errors and a total of 54 unforced errors. Opposing him, Norrie offered his opponent very few errors, maintaining his consistency, physicality and depth the entire contest while performing well on serve and choosing his moments to advance forward and attack well.

Decisive Stages

In the tense final games, the British competitor superbly kept his composure to overcome the best player in the sport.

Personal Journey

Following struggling for an extended period due to a major physical setback and challenges with his game, the tennis professional dropped as far down as No 91 this season. Following appearances in the last eight at the grass-court major and the clay-court Grand Slam second week subsequently, this win further underlines the 30-year-old's improvement as he seeks to come back to the top 20 and beyond. The Spanish sensation, despite his remarkable success, is yet to solve how to display his finest performance on indoor courts.