Cameron Norrie is stunned by Taylor Fritz, who has now won 11 of his past 13 matches; The British men's No 1 is struggling to make it to the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, but is likely to go as an alternate; world No 1 Novak Djokovic receives a walkover in Paris
Thursday 4 November 2021 15:33, UK
Cameron Norrie's bid for a spot at the season-ending ATP Finals took a damaging blow at the Paris Masters on Thursday as Taylor Fritz derailed his bid with a stunning performance.
Norrie was beaten 6-3 7-6 (7-3) by the American in the last 16 and now the British men's No 1 faces a tough task of qualifying for the event in Turin from 14-21 November.
Seventh-placed Casper Ruud is in line to secure his spot with victory over Marcos Giron later on Thursday, while eighth-placed Hubert Hurkacz can stamp his ticket with a win against James Duckworth on Friday.
Norrie, who has earned a career-best 50 tour-level victories this season and is 11th in the Race To Turin, is likely to head to Italy as an alternate.
The 26-year-old almost made the ideal start in the opening game, only for Fritz to save the sole break point he faced in the set with a brilliant backhand winner down the line.
Two double faults from Norrie in the sixth game then gifted Fritz the decisive break of serve and the American held his nerve to close out the set.
Norrie saved two break points in the seventh game of the second set to keep his nose in front and then forged two set points in the 10th but was unable to convert and Fritz powered through the eventual tie-break.
"Cam and I have played a lot and it's always a battle when we play - except last time when he beat me pretty bad," Fritz said in a post-match courtside interview.
"He's always so tough to beat and I came out here and I played my best tennis and it feels great. It was a lot of fun."
Fritz will next face Novak Djokovic after the world No 1 was handed a walkover when last-16 opponent Gael Monfils was forced to withdraw with a leg injury.
Djokovic has won all four of their previous meetings, two coming in 2019 and two this year, and Fritz added: "Obviously (it's) very tough playing Novak. It's going to be my third time this year so hopefully this time will be different."
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