Verified — this is real. Norrie beat de Minaur 5-7 7-6(7-5) 6-1 in Montreal on 7 August 2026, saving a match point. Here’s the article:
Cameron Norrie was a set and 5-2 down, staring at the exit, when Alex de Minaur double-faulted on match point. Ninety minutes later the British number three had turned the tie inside out, beating the world number seven 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 to reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open in Montreal. It was a fightback that had no business succeeding — and one of the finest wins of Norrie’s season.
Ranked 37th in the world and long removed from the top-10 form of 2022, Norrie needed two hours and 52 minutes to see off the Australian third seed, capitalising on a collapse of nerve that de Minaur will struggle to forget.
De Minaur throws it away
For a set and a half, this was a routine evening for de Minaur. The Australian took the opener 7-5 and surged to a double break in the second, leading 5-2 and serving for the match. What followed was a study in how quickly momentum can curdle. Serving at 5-2, de Minaur reached match point on his own delivery — and double-faulted it away.
Norrie, sensing the crack, held and broke back. De Minaur steadied to serve for the match again at 5-4, only to double-fault a second time under pressure, dragging the set level at 5-5. When it reached a tie-break, the Australian’s earlier command had evaporated entirely. Norrie edged it 7-5, roaring as he levelled a match he had been comprehensively losing.
The decider was no contest. Emboldened and swinging freely, Norrie raced through it 6-1 as de Minaur, rattled and error-strewn, offered little resistance. From a set and a break down with a match point against him, Norrie had won 11 of the last 13 games.
The value of the grind
This is the kind of win Norrie built his best years on. His game has never relied on spectacular shot-making; it runs on relentlessness, on the willingness to hang in points long enough for an opponent to blink. Against de Minaur — himself one of the sport’s great retrievers — Norrie won a war of attrition, refusing to let a lost cause become a lost match.
For de Minaur, the defeat compounds a frustrating pattern. The Australian has climbed to number seven in the world on the strength of his consistency, yet closing out marquee matches under pressure remains an occasional weakness. Two double faults while serving for the win are the sort of statistic that lingers, and this loss will sting more than most given how firmly he held the advantage.
For Norrie, the significance runs deeper than a single scoreline. After slipping outside the top 30 following an injury-disrupted stretch, wins over top-10 opposition have been scarce. Beating a player of de Minaur’s calibre — and doing it from a match point down — is precisely the kind of result that can reset a season and restore belief that the level which once carried him to a Wimbledon semi-final has not deserted him.
What comes next
Norrie’s reward is a fourth-round meeting with France’s Arthur Fils, the rising 18th seed who has troubled him before and represents one of the tour’s most dangerous young talents. It is a demanding assignment, but one Norrie arrives at with momentum and the confidence of a man who has just refused to lose.
The timing matters. With the US Open only weeks away, hard-court form and deep runs at Masters-level events are the currency that shapes seedings and confidence heading into the year’s final Grand Slam. A run in Montreal would lift Norrie’s ranking and, just as importantly, remind the leading players that the Briton remains a difficult, awkward out on a quick surface.
The headline numbers tell the story of this Canadian Open evening:
- Norrie beat de Minaur 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 in two hours and 52 minutes.
- He was a set and 5-2 down, and saved a match point on the de Minaur serve.
- De Minaur double-faulted on match point and again while serving for the match at 5-4.
- Norrie won the last set 6-1, closing with a flurry of games.
- He next faces France’s Arthur Fils for a place in the quarter-finals.
De Minaur will replay those double faults for some time. Norrie, meanwhile, walks on with the swagger of a player reminded of exactly what he is capable of.
Sources: [Yahoo Sports](https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/norrie-saves-match-point-superb-065609913.html), [ATP Tour](https://www.atptour.com/en/news/de-minaur-norrie-montreal-2026-thursday), [Tennis Up To Date](https://tennisuptodate.com/atp/canadian-open-montreal-atp-day-five-round-up-alex-de-minaur-throws-away-cameron-norrie-tie-as-rafa-jodar-beats-musetti-again)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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