- British player beats world No 11 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3
- Reaches fourth round at Melbourne for first time
Cameron Norrie arrived in his Australian Open third round contest against Casper Ruud with the cards stacked against him. In their three previous meetings, he had lost each time while winning just one set, clear evidence of an extremely unfavourable match-up. If he did not make significant changes to his game, he would almost certainly lose.
It is to his immense credit that he did not hesitate to adapt his game and in the process he showed a new dimension to his tennis. Instead of grinding from behind the baseline as he has successfully done in his career, Norrie took the initiative at the net, he placed his opponent under constant pressure and he emerged on Wednesday evening with a stellar 6-4, 6-7 (7), 6-4, 6-3 win over Ruud to reach the fourth round.