They came to see a marathon and instead witnessed a massacre. Cameron Norrie spoke before his Indian Wells quarter-final against Diego Schwartzman of donning his running shoes in preparation for facing a human wall. The Argentine enthused about the slow conditions in the California desert, light-heartedly suggesting the organisers should consider move the rescheduled spring tournament to October permanently. When the pair faced off at the US Open last year, the contest spanned almost four hours and the players, neither of whom could exactly be described as a servebot, created 58 break points between them. The order of the day was clear: cancel all appointments, because this one could go on all night.
How wrong we were. Focused, fearless and nigh on perfect in everything he did, Norrie marked his first appearance in the last eight of a Masters series event with a demolition job, comprehensively outplaying the 11th-seeded Schwartzman for the loss of just two games. With his 45th victory of the season, a figure that takes him past Novak Djokovic, the Briton is likely to enter the world’s top 20 for the first time. He will also displace Dan Evans, whom Schwartzman defeated in the third round on Monday, as British No 1.
Nobody beats the dogged Argentine 6-0, 6-2, particularly on a surface as slow as the one in Indian Wells, but by the end Schwartzman looked bereft of ideas. He had been outclassed in every department. Schwartzman was unable to outsteady Norrie. He was unable to use his trademark fleetness of foot when Norrie pulled the trigger from the baseline, such was the pinpoint accuracy of the Briton’s shot-making. He was unable to live with the potency and variety of Norrie’s play, watching on helplessly as his opponent fired winners from the back and angled off winning volleys at the net. When Norrie responded to a feathered drop shot with an even better one, struck with extraordinary finesse at the end of a lung-busting sprint into the forecourt, Schwartzman spread his arms wide in disbelief, utterly nonplussed.
Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski, those twin luminaries of the British tennis establishment, hailed it as the best performance they had seen from Norrie. When Martina Navratilova, covering the tournament on British TV for Amazon Prime, asked Norrie if it was the biggest win of his career, he replied without hesitation: “I think so. It was such a big moment for me this morning, playing my first Masters 1000 quarter-final, especially against Diego, he’s such a great competitor and I thought I was in for an absolute battle. I’m so pleased to be through and I think, yeah, it’s probably my biggest match – and my biggest win – of my career, with all the circumstances and all the pressures. I was really happy with the way I handled everything.”
Norrie will face Grigor Dimitrov in the last four after the Bulgarian, who beat top seed Daniil Medvedev in the previous round after trailing by a set and 4-1, once again came from behind to beat Hubert Hurkacz, the eighth seed, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
Hubert won 92% of the points behind his first serve in the opening set, ensuring a break in the eighth game was sufficient to give him the early lead. Dimitrov began to find his range in the second set, eventually levelling the match after clipping the net cord with a sliced backhand on set point. Having saved a break point early in the decider with an extraordinary lunging forehand volley, Dimitrov established a commanding 5-2 lead only for Hurkacz to hit back and force a tiebreak. Dimitrov held firm, however, finally sealing the win in two hours and 40 minutes.
“It was very hard for me to find my range today,” said Dimitrov, the 23rd seed. “Of course I was a little bit tired from yesterday, I didn’t feel like had enough time to really rest and push, but I still felt that I knew I had something in me. As soon as that second set ended, I knew that I had to step up a little bit more and be a little bit more aggressive.
“I started reading his serves a little bit more and I had a few looks. I kept on trying, I kept on believing, and I think that made the difference. Even in the third set, even when I was up, I felt like the match was never over. I knew he was going to fight and come back and play good tennis. I couldn’t finish the way I really wanted to, but I stayed in. That was the difference.”