Sawt Falasteen - Battling Norrie survives match point to oust de Minaur at Montreal

The battling British winner trailed a set and a double break against the Australian third seed, who folded in the final set of an epic lasting for almost three hours.

De Minaur, who had been the highest remaining seed in a depleted draw, could have closed it out in straight sets with a match point chance in the eighth game of the second set.

The tournament had already seen an early exit from top seed Alexander Zverev, an injury pullout from Canadian second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and a loss by fourth seed Daniil Medvedev.

The US Open tuneup hardcourt event had already been hit by the absences of world number one Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic.

The result leaves fifth-seeded holder Ben Shelton as the new man to beat going into the fourth round.

Norrie said he had to win a struggle.

"It was a great match to win and test my level," said the 2021 Masters champion at Indian Wells. "I can take so much confidence from this one.

"The level was so high in the first set. He came out firing and I had to match it. Alex stayed tough and stole the first set but took his foot off the gas just slightly in the second.

"I just battled point for point and managed to come out 6-1 in the third set. I was fortunate and I'll take (the win)."

De Minaur, losing finalist in Canada three years ago to Sinner, seized a 4-1 first-set lead to take the opener, winning six of seven games.

Norrie began turning the tide in the second set, levelling with a winning tiebreaker before running away with it in the third. He earned his match point 62 minutes after de Minaur blew his second-set winning chance.

Norrie will next play Arthur Fils after the Frenchman defeated Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2, staking his claim for a comeback effort after missing months of play from a year ago and extending to February.

The 44th-ranked Argentine Navone lost his 22nd career match against a top-30 opponent. Fils advanced on his second match point, winning as he overcame 30 unforced errors with a solid serving performance which included four aces and four breaks of the Navone serve.

"I couldn't put in a serve during warm-up," the 24th-ranked winner said. "But I found my rhythm during the match and hit some good spots."

- 'I enjoy being back' -

With no top five players left in the depleted draw, the path is opening for the survivors in French-speaking Canada.

"I try to do my best every day," Fils said. "It has been a tough time for me, I was injured a lot. But I enjoy being back on the big stage -- it means a lot. Still, no pressure."

Fils will play a Masters 1000 round of 16 for the fourth time this season after winning his 25th match of 2026.

Luciano Darderi defeated China's Shang Juncheng in a 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 comeback effort, his 30th victory of the season.

The Italian plays for the quarter-finals as he takes on Nuno Borges after the Portuguese defeated German Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-2.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST