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Cameron Norrie earned the biggest victory of his professional journey by coming back from a lost first set to beat top-ranked player Carlos Alcaraz with a stunning comeback in the early stage of the Paris Masters.

While he had before defeated Alcaraz on two separate matches, this win signifies Norrie's initial win over a sitting world No 1.

"Massive. Incredibly significant for me," said Norrie, who is now the newest English competitor in history to beat a global number one. "Coming back from health issues last year, I fell in the initial match of qualifying rounds here. I just sought to embrace my game in the second half of the year. To get a triumph like this, it's the greatest success of my tennis journey, my maiden triumph over the global number one and probably the strongest competitor in the tennis scene right now."

Norrie, ranked No 31, also halted Alcaraz's impressive run of nine consecutive finals and 17 successive Masters 1000 victories, which was the top run of outcomes in the Spaniard's developing career.

Game Analysis

The top seed looked to be moving confidently to a win at the start as he cruised past the opening set. However, the British contender steadily worked himself into contention by executing with greater precision and dragging the Spanish opponent into prolonged, grueling points. His unceasing shot tolerance and dependability slowly took its toll.

Through most of the battle, Alcaraz performed well on serve but he had difficulty to locate his rhythm with his rally strokes. The rising talent appeared notably uneasy executing his primary weapon, which has been the most effective stroke in the world for much of this year, producing 29 forehand miscues and a combined of 54 errors. Across the net, the British player gave his opponent so few mistakes, maintaining his reliability, physicality and power the entire contest while delivering effective serves and picking his spots to force himself forward and strike effectively.

Final Stages

In the nail-biting last moments, the British competitor superbly held his calm to defeat the best player in the sport.

Professional Background

Following dealing for months due to a significant physical setback and struggles with his form, the tennis professional fell as far down as 91st in the rankings this year. Having reached the quarter-finals at the grass-court major and the clay-court Grand Slam round of 16 since then, this triumph highlights the veteran's progress as he seeks to return to the top 20 and further. Alcaraz, notwithstanding his incredible accomplishments, is has not yet figure out how to display his finest performance indoors.