Cameron Norrie of Great Britain celebrates match point against Nikoloz Basilashvili of at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in California October 17, 2021. — AFP pic
CALIFORNIA, Oct 18 — Cameron Norrie battled back to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6 6-4 6-1 in the Indian Wells final on Sunday and become the first British man to win the Masters 1000 tournament.
It appeared an upset was in the works when the hard-hitting Basilashvili took the first set but Norrie regrouped in the second, breaking the Georgian at love to force a decider.
In the third set, the left-handed Norrie broke early and saved three break points on his serve to take a 3-0 lead as unforced errors began to pile up for Basilashvili under the lights in the Southern California desert.
Norrie sealed the win when Basilashvili sent a forehand long on championship point to collect the biggest win of his career.
Britain’s Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski have all previously played in the men’s finals at Indian Wells but finished runner-up. — Reuters