Norrie Saves Match Point to Stun De Minaur, Becomes British No. 1

Cameron Norrie produced one of the comebacks of the season at the National Bank Open on Friday, saving a match point and reeling off 11 of the final 13 games to defeat third seed Alex de Minaur 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 in two hours and 52 minutes. The victory not only sends the 31-year-old Briton into the last 16 in Montreal — it also installs him as the new British No. 1 in the live ATP rankings.

The Double Fault That Turned the Match

De Minaur had every reason to believe the match was his. The Australian world No. 7 took the opening set 7-5 with clean, aggressive tennis and moved to a commanding 5-2 lead in the second. Serving for the match at 40-30 — match point in hand — he double-faulted. It was the moment the contest turned irrevocably.

Still trying to close it out at 5-4, de Minaur produced a second consecutive double fault on break point, handing Norrie the game and levelling the set at 5-5. From that point the Briton was unstoppable: he took the tiebreak 7-5 and then swept through the deciding set without conceding a game, completing the turnaround 6-1.

"From the beginning, he came out firing," Norrie said at his post-match press conference. "I had to match it. I was just trying to play point for point, and I managed to win 6-1. I'm just so happy."

Numbers That Tell the Full Story

Norrie converted seven of ten break-point opportunities across the match — a ruthless conversion rate that eventually overwhelmed de Minaur despite a slow start to the contest. He won 11 of the final 13 games, a run that included the recovery from 2-5 in the second set, the 7-5 tiebreak, and a third-set demolition in which de Minaur managed only a single game.

The career head-to-head between the two now stands at 4-3 in Norrie's favour. Crucially, both of those 2026 wins have come against a top-10 opponent — a category of victory that had eluded Norrie for much of the past two seasons.

"I played every single point and that's what I came to do," he added. "It was the icing on the cake to win the match."

A New British No. 1

The Montreal win moves Norrie to No. 36 in the live ATP standings, surpassing compatriot Arthur Fery to reclaim the British No. 1 ranking — a position he last held before injuries disrupted his 2025 campaign. For a player who arrived in Canada without a seeding, the achievement underlines the momentum he has quietly gathered this summer.

Fery, who enjoyed a breakthrough season that included a run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, drops to second in the British standings. Both players remain active in the draw — Fery in a different quarter — meaning the live ranking position could shift again before the tournament is done.

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Fils Awaits in the Round of 16

Norrie's reward for the comeback is a fourth-round meeting with 18th seed Arthur Fils, the Frenchman who dismissed Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2 in a comfortable third-round display earlier on Friday. The two have never met on the ATP Tour.

"He's one of the best players in the world when he's confident and playing well," Norrie acknowledged. "But I'm just going out and playing every point — that's the plan."

Montreal's draw continues its dramatic shedding of top names: with Zverev, Auger-Aliassime, Medvedev and now de Minaur all eliminated, Ben Shelton stands as the highest remaining seed heading into the last 16. Norrie — who arrived in Canada ranked outside the top 35 — is suddenly among the most compelling stories left in the tournament.