Indian Wells: Cameron Norrie sharply dominates Andrey Rublev (6-2, 6-4) and advances to the quarter-finals

Norrie’s Big 8

It’s not just Daniil Medvedev who strings together victories like pearls. In the shadow of the Russian, Cameron Norrie does the same on a slightly more modest level, it is true. On Tuesday, the Briton confirmed that he was in very good shape on the streak of his title in Rio by crushing Andrey Rublev, world number 7, in two sets (6-2, 6-4) and 1h18 of game in eighth of final. To join the last four of the first Masters 1000 of the year, he will have to get rid of the winner of Frances Tiafoe, winner of Alejandro Tabilo (6-4, 6-4).

The 8th victory in a row on the Cameron Norrie circuit is therefore not the least beautiful. He could even have been more expeditious, since he served for the first time for the qualification at 6-2, 5-2, before a small last stand from Rublev. Extremely solid (16 unforced errors against 30), the British left-hander completely neutralized his opponent and recalled that the conditions of Indian Wells were perfectly suited to his game, he who won there in 2021 to everyone’s surprise. He thus showed himself to be totally efficient, converting the 5 break points he obtained and only yielding his service twice on his side.

Fritz pursues his double dream

In the process, Taylor Fritz held his rank. The outgoing champion was favorite against Hungarian Marton Fucsovics and he lived up to his status on the court. Without forcing his talent, he showed great seriousness to win in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) and 1h41 of play against the 84th in the world. Again in the quarter-finals in front of his home crowd, he will challenge Stan Wawrinka or Jannik Sinner.

Everything was decided in the space of 15-20 minutes in this part. While Fucsovics competed well up to 4 games everywhere, he conceded a 5-0 to find himself led by a set and a break (6-4, 3-0). The Hungarian however had the merit of hanging on, being more aggressive than his opponent in the exchange. He even unbroken (6-4, 4-3) before… yielding his face-off once too much by rushing too much. Fritz was therefore able to tighten the bolts in the key moments, which now makes him a safe bet on the circuit.