Cameron Norrie produced one of the most unlikely escapes of the Canadian Open, fighting back from match point down to defeat Alex de Minaur and move through a draining contest in Montreal.

The Brit won 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 after two hours and 52 minutes in oppressive humidity, a match that became as notable for his repeated shirt changes as for the standard of the recovery. De Minaur held a match point at 5-2 in the second set, but double faulted at the crucial moment, and Norrie seized control from there as the Australian’s level faded.

Norrie’s routine of changing shirts several times during the match prompted plenty of conversation. On multiple occasions he switched shirts during De Minaur’s service games, and he also did so while facing break point on his own serve. Umpire Fergus Murphy appeared mildly puzzled by the sequence of changes.

Although he did not breach any rules, some social media users questioned whether the timing of the shirt swaps was designed to interrupt the rhythm of the match. One X user described them as ‘dirty tactics’, while others wondered whether the pattern of changes was fair.

Norrie later said the reason was straightforward: the conditions were brutal. “It took eight shirts. Had to change a lot,” said Norrie.

“I was just trying to play every point, and I thought it was getting tough, and it was so humid. It felt like a wall. And I was really struggling with that. And if I was struggling, I know I’m a really fit guy, so I was thinking, imagine how he’s feeling, and he must be suffering, too.

“So I wanted to keep pushing and keep pushing, and it ended up paying off in the third set.

“I thought a little bit, in the end of the first set, and in the second set I tried to rush the points a little bit too much. In that moment, all last week, this week, I’ve really been trying to reset every point, regardless of if it was the best point I played or the worst point, and regardless of what happens, just tried to get myself ready, fight every single point.

“And obviously I was down 5-2. It was looking like it was going to be done, but I just said, no, let’s keep playing, keep testing the legs. Managed to do that and get back and find that right balance of not pressing too much and really finding that good balance where I could come forward when I needed to and make good decisions.

“And I managed to do that in the tiebreak, too, and came forward, and I played to win, and that’s what counted.”

The victory means Norrie will move back above Arthur Fery to finish the Canadian Open as British No 1. After an escape of this scale, he may feel he can still push on in Montreal.

A former American ATP Tour player has offered a measured view on Carlos Alcaraz’s chances of making it back in time for the 2026 US Open following a right wrist injury.

Alcaraz has not played since April, when he hurt the wrist during his opening-round win at the Barcelona Open. His return will not come at the Cincinnati Open, after his withdrawal from the Masters 1000 event was confirmed earlier this week.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion also missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon, yet he still remains on the entry list for the 2026 US Open, the season’s final major. Alcaraz is the reigning champion at Flushing Meadows, but there is growing concern that jumping straight into a Slam without a warmup tournament would be a major ask after an injury of this kind.

Speaking on Tennis Channel, Steve Johnson addressed the situation and the frustration felt by followers of the sport.

“I’m just a bit sad for all the tennis fans out there,” said the former world No 21. “We want to see Carlos back – tennis is better when he is out there and competing.

“But look, there are good signs. You can see him moving in some of these videos that he’s posting, it’s getting closer and closer.

“But you’ve got to just be so careful with the right wrist injury for Carlos. He’s so young, still so much life ahead of him on tour. So you can’t rush it back, but I really hope he’s back for the [US] Open.”

Johnson also stressed that a return should only come if Alcaraz is fully ready.

“For the common man, no [I would not advise them to return for the US Open]. But if you’re Carlos Alcaraz, you can do whatever you want. If there’s somebody that could do it, I believe it’s him.

“But you just got to be super smart because that’s his money-maker – that right wrist, that forehand, that serve, the power that he can generate.

“So unless he is 100% healthy and feels that he can finish the tournament, seven matches, best three out of five, then he shouldn’t play, which is not what you want to hear as a tennis fan.”

Alex de Minaur became the latest leading seed to exit early at the Canadian Open, undone by Cameron Norrie after letting a match point slip away.

With Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic absent from this year’s event in Montreal, the draw had already been weakened further when second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrew before his opening match. That opened the door for a host of upsets, including the second-round defeats of top seed Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Flavio Cobolli, Taylor Fritz and Andrey Rublev.

De Minaur, the third seed, and defending champion Ben Shelton, seeded fifth, stood as the highest-ranked players remaining until the Australian’s collapse against the British No 2. After taking the first set, De Minaur was beaten 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 1-6 in a match that swung sharply after he appeared to have control.

At one stage, while trying to deal with Norrie’s high, loopy patterns, de Minaur’s coach told him “all he [Norrie] is doing is spinning [the] forehand high and loopy”. The response from the player was sharp: “Then you should f****** come on court and try it.”

The exchange came at 4-2, with Norrie leading by a break. De Minaur then recovered, broke back, and later took a second break in game 11 to close out the opening set.

He moved 5-2 ahead in the second set with two breaks and served for the match. He earned a match point, but Norrie saved it, broke again, and stayed alive. A further break in game 10 brought the set level, and Norrie edged the tie-break before pulling away in the decider.

“It was just an awful third set for me. I had chances early, some break points,” de Minaur lamented after the match. “I had some love-30s. I had a 0-40. Just couldn’t execute. And, yeah, definitely wasn’t my best set of tennis.”

On the missed chance, he added: “Think it was a missed opportunity because I was up today, and I had — obviously I was in a good position, and I had match point to finish off the match. But apart from that, I think, yeah, I wasn’t paying too much attention to that.

“It’s tennis. As we’ve seen, anything can happen. It’s not the easiest of conditions out here.”

Norrie, meanwhile, said: “In terms of attitude, it was maybe top 3 [win]. But I’ve played a lot of big matches, but I’m really pleased with the win and how I handled it. And the roller coaster and the level in the first set was so, so high from both of us.

“But it’s never easy playing Alex. He’s a good friend. And I had to dig so, so deep to win today, so on the attitude side, yeah, top 3.”