National Bank Open 2026: Cam Norrie produces stunning comeback to beat third seed Alex de Minaur
• 2 minute read
Cam Norrie fought back from a set and a double break down to knock out third seed Alex de Minaur in the third round of the National Bank Open.
The British No.2 showed his fight and resilience to save a match point at 5-2 down in the second set to beat the Australian 5-7, 7-6(1), 6-1.
Norrie’s second top-10 victory of the season - both against world No.7 De Minaur - sees him move into the fourth round where he’ll meet 18th seed Arthur Fils.
The win has seen him return to British No.1 in the live ATP rankings, overtaking Wimbledon semi-finalist Arthur Fery.
The 30-year-old Briton surrendered an early break lead in the first set as his opponent hit another gear after the opening few games. Norrie and De Minaur produced some incredible rallies throughout the match, including a brilliant cat-and-mouse style exchange that gave the Australian a platform to serve out the set.
De Minaur continued to move through the gears and had the chance to see out a victory with a double break before setting up match point on serve.
The Australian hit a costly double fault, which opened the door for Norrie to fire back, and the Brit took his chance.
Another double fault from De Minaur at 5-4 allowed Norrie to draw level and gave him the confidence boost needed to turn the match on its head.
After Norrie raced through the tie-break, there would be no stopping him from completing what had seemed like the most unlikely of victories.
The Briton rattled off six consecutive games in the third set while saving four break points to close out the win in two hours and 54 minutes.
Reflecting on a high-quality match, Norrie said: “From the beginning, he came out firing. I was like, ‘woah, this is a crazy level’, and I had to match it. I managed to go up a break, but he stayed really tough, and I know he’s so tough as a competitor and stole that first set.
“He was looking good in the second set, and I think he took the foot off the gas very slightly and I managed to free up, steal the tie-break and then it was just a battle.
“I was just trying to play point for point. No time to think. It was a great match to win and to test my level, and I can take so much confidence from this one.”
Norrie and Fils will meet each other for the first time in the fourth round of the National Bank Open in Montreal.
Fils has had a strong record at ATP Masters 1000 events this year, with his best results being semi-final runs at the Miami Open and Madrid Open.
Elsewhere, Wimbledon champions Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara made a winning start against Ignacio Buse and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-2. However, Julian Cash and Lloyd Glasspool suffered an early exit to Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
