Tennis: Britain’s Norrie charges into ATP Indian Wells final

INDIAN WELLS, UNITED STATES (AFP) – Cameron Norrie dominated Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-4 at the ATP Indian Wells Masters to book his spot in Sunday’s (Oct 17) championship match and become the first British finalist since 2009.

Norrie overpowered Dimitrov with a strong serve, blasting four aces and hitting a number of precision forehands and backhands on the main stadium court in Southern California.

Norrie will face the winner of the other semi-final between Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili and crowd favourite Taylor Fritz of the United States.

Several Brits have reached the final in the California desert without success, including Andy Murray who lost to Rafael Nadal in 2009.

Tim Henman lost two finals in 2002 and 2004, and Canadian-born Briton Greg Rusedski was runner-up in 1998.

Norrie was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in New Zealand before becoming the No. 1 college player in America while attending university in Texas. He has represented Great Britain since 2013.

Norrie is seeking his second career title after winning earlier this year in Los Cabos.

He broke through in Los Cabos following a string of runner-up heartbreaks, including earlier this year in Estoril, Lyon and London.