Islamabad
Britain’s Cameron Norrie hailed the “biggest win of my career” after he beat Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman in straight sets to reach the semi-finals of the Indian Wells Masters. World number 26 Norrie will replace Dan Evans as British number one after his 6-0 6-2 win in California.
The 26-year-old left-hander had never previously reached the last eight of a Masters 1,000 tournament. Norrie will face Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the last four.
The world number 28 beat Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz 3-6 6-4 7-6 (6-2) to reach his first Masters 1,000 semi-final in two years.
Norrie dismantled the world number 15 in 73 minutes for his 45th win on the ATP Tour this season. Speaking after the win, Norrie said: “It was such a big moment for me playing my first Masters 1,000 quarter-final, especially against Diego.
“I thought I was in for an absolute battle. It’s probably the biggest win of my career. I’m really happy with the way I handled everything.
Victory over Schwartzman, who Norrie also beat in the first round of the 2020 US Open, should give the Briton enough ranking points to break into the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career.
“With Diego you have to be careful. He snuck through a couple of matches already this tournament. I had to keep my foot down and was able to get that second break and relax and play some great tennis,” added Norrie.
