CINCINNATI (Reuters) -
Cameron Norrie admitted he lost focus before battling his way back from the brink of defeat against Carlos Alcaraz to book a place in the semi-finals of the Western and Southern Open.
Trailing 3-1 to the Spanish third seed in the decisive third set, the Briton refused to succumb and eventually ground out a 7-6(4) 6-7(4) 6-4 victory to set up a last-four showdown with Borna Coric in Cincinnati.
Norrie, who had led 4-1 in the second set having taken the first, told the ATP Tour’s official website: “That was unbelievable. Credit to Carlos. I was up a set and a break, 4-1, and I kind of lost a little bit of vision.
“I was thinking a little bit too much about the finish line rather than focusing on how I was winning points and I honestly got a little bit tight and he raised his level, didn’t give me anything.”
Nineteen-year-old Alcaraz, who had beaten Norrie in each of their previous three meetings, two of them this year, looked on course to complete a fourth when he led 3-1 in the third set having scrapped his way back into the match.
However the 26-year-old, who had dispensed with teenagers Holger Rune and Ben Shelton to make it to the quarter-finals, put his renowned strength to good use to wear down a redoubtable opponent, breaking in the ninth game to set up the win.
Norrie said: “I just wanted to hang tough with him and I think the only place I had him better was the legs and the physicality, so I was just trying to make every rally as physical as I could and make it tough for him to finish points.
Norrie, who reached the Wimbledon semifinals last month, is expected to move up to at least ninth in the world rankings.
The US Open, the final grand slam of the year, starts on Monday, 29 August.