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The British tennis star earned the most notable win of his career by coming back from a lost first set to beat world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the early stage of the Paris Masters.

While he had earlier overcome Alcaraz on two separate matches, this win marks Norrie's maiden success over a sitting world number one.

"Enormous. So big for me," commented Norrie, who is now the latest British man in the record books to defeat a world No 1. "Coming back from health issues last year, I was defeated in the first round of qualies here. I just aimed to embrace my game in the latter part of the year. To secure a triumph like this, it's the greatest victory of my career, my maiden triumph over the top player and likely the most confident athlete in the sport right now."

The British player, ranked 31st globally, also halted Alcaraz's supreme sequence of nine straight final appearances and 17 successive premier event successes, which marked the best series of outcomes in the young champion's young professional path.

Match Breakdown

The top seed looked to be progressing easily towards victory early on as he eased past the opening set. Yet, the British contender slowly worked himself into the match by executing with sharper placement and pulling the Spanish opponent into lengthy, grueling points. His relentless shot tolerance and reliability gradually made an impact.

During large parts of the match, Alcaraz delivered strong serves but he found it challenging to find his timing on his baseline shots. The 22-year-old seemed particularly uncomfortable executing his forehand, which has been the most effective stroke in the world for most of this year, producing 29 mistakes off the forehand side and a combined of 54 mistakes. Across the net, the British player offered Alcaraz very few errors, keeping up his consistency, fitness and depth throughout while performing well on serve and selecting opportunities to advance inside the baseline and attack well.

Decisive Phase

In the tight final games, the British competitor superbly maintained his composure to close out the top competitor in the world.

Personal Background

Following battling for months due to a serious arm issue and struggles with his performance, the tennis professional slipped as far down as 91st globally this year. After making the last eight at the grass-court major and the clay-court Grand Slam fourth round subsequently, this victory further underlines the 30-year-old's improvement as he aims to come back to the world's top twenty and further. The Spanish sensation, despite his remarkable success, is yet to master how to display his top form indoors.