As year-ending crescendos go in tennis, there are few finer finishes to a season than beating the world No 1.
Nor can British No 2 Cam Norrie‘s achievement at this year’s Paris Masters, where he despatched Carlos Alcaraz in three draining sets, necessarily be written off as his taking advantage of an end-of-season slump, with the Spaniard going on to reach the ATP Finals final weeks later.
Instead, it was a triumph Norrie can truly be proud of, with his Alcaraz scalp making him the first player to defeat the prodigal 22-year-old at a tour event (not named Jannik Sinner, that is), since March – or over a staggering 42 matches.
‘Obviously, he was probably the most confident player in the world at that moment,’ Norrie explains, long after the dust has settled, and his off-season has been enjoyed. ‘So for me, I had to work. I had to work. I had to work.
‘It was not just hitting the guy off the court, hitting winners. I had to run a lot, had to use my fitness, agility, power, serving, volleys, everything, to beat him.
‘And I think it was nice to win, but I was just happy with the way I won. It was my typical game, the way I pushed him, the way I kept keep going. It was good fun for me.’
British No 2 Cam Norrie has enjoyed a barnstorming year as he’s surged into the world’s top 30
The South Africa-born Briton ended his season on a high when he beat world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz at the Paris Masters
At 30, Norrie is known on the tour for his battling spirit and using his physical fitness to pull his opponents into drag-out clashes, their hope slipping away in the face of his strength, stamina, and ‘huge lungs’ – a genetic imbalance which saw the doctor testing his lung capacity question whether he was a ‘deep sea diver’. His two-and-a-half-hour contest with Alcaraz was probably few people’s idea of fun.
But swiping the victory, which he chased with a run to a final the following week in Metz to confirm his ranking inside the top 30, was the culmination of an exhilarating season, just 12 months after his 2024 was pockmarked with injury.
Sidelined from the Paris Olympics, the North American swing and US Open, and Davis Cup duties with an arm injury last year, Norrie had started 2025 low on morale – and languishing perilously close to dropping out of the top 100.
Next year, he will most likely be seeded at the Australian Open, a transformation he attests to his commitment to putting enjoyment at the forefront of his game.
‘At the beginning of this year, I was really trying to push. I thought I was ready to get back into the top 50 or top 30 or whatever,’ Norrie says. ‘And I was putting so much expectation on everything, rather than just going out and and making it happen.
‘I knew I had the ability to do that, and I had to take a step back. It was not really happening for me. I just wanted to try and join my tennis a little bit more. Suddenly I was playing really well, enjoying the clay and made fourth round of French Open and and then had a good Wimbledon (making the quarter-finals).’
After a cluttered run of tournaments in America, Davis Cup in Poland, and the Shanghai Masters, Norrie then made the decision to skip a planned event in Stockholm, which in turn turbocharged his late season as other players were calling time early, plagued with burnout.
‘I was feeling more just pumped and ready to celebrate another week of being able to be fit, and being able to play, being able to enjoy my tennis one more week,’ Norrie adds.
After a relaxing off-season spent on holiday with his family Norrie is already prepping 2026
One of the key components of his longevity in the game is his investment in his holistic fitness
A crucial component of Norrie’s fitness – and ability to withstand the rigours of the tour – has been his usage of shorts made by Hytro, which uses Blood Flow Restriction to train muscles to work harder, aiding both training and recovery. Such is Norrie’s belief in the brand he is now an investor, as well as an ambassador.
Such wearable fitness-tech products are creeping into the mainstream on the tennis tours, with Alcaraz pictured using a similar technique this season, but Norrie has been in an early devotee after being introduced to the method by his physio, who previously worked with England Rugby.
‘The tennis schedule is relentless, and you play so much – there’s so many opportunities week after week after week, which is cool,’ Norrie concedes. ‘You can have a lot of chances to completely change your your year within one week
‘But you can only utilise that if you’re healthy. For me, Hytro has done huge job to keep me healthy, especially with my problems with tendons over the last couple of years. I’ve not really missed a big chunk of time with that, and I was a little bit unlucky with my arm injury last year, but that was something completely separate.
‘That’s the biggest thing in tennis. You’re only as good as your body, and if you don’t have these, if you’re not fit and ready to go week after week, you have no chance to make it to the top of the game.’
Much has been made as the season draws to a close, of just how much the toll of ‘week after week’ can take on top players. Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek, British No 1 Jack Draper, and US star Jack Draper have been among the high-profile names to voice their dissatisfaction with the scheduling of events and increasing thinness of the off-season before the start of preparations for the 2026 Australian. Mandatory events on both the ATP and WTA tours, as well as the lengthening of many Masters tournaments to a grinding two weeks are just two popular complaints.
Norrie however, has a lighter attitude which, although potentially less lucrative, has helped him both physically and mentally.
‘In terms of the schedule, we’re not kidding ourselves,’ Norrie stresses. ‘It’s a long schedule, but on the flip side of that, there’s a lot of opportunity to play these tournaments and to earn money and to earn a living.
Norrie has been using Hytro products which restrict blood flow to his muscles via tight bands
Amid a busy schedule on the tennis tours, Norrie’s compatriot Jack Draper is one of many players to have spoken out about issues with burnout
‘It’s a long schedule, but it’s alright for me. And I think, you’re not forced to play these (lower-graded) 250s, you have some requirements to play the 500s and the 1000s. 1000s are almost all mandatory (but) you can pick your schedule.
‘In the past, I was typically always wanting to play. I would just test the limits of my, of my burnout, really. And I think you need to learn, and you need to know what, where you like to play, what tournaments you like to play, and you need to always adapt your schedule.’
Taking his own advice and knowing that he’s a player who ‘needs the matches to get confidence’ rather than finding it on a practice court, last spring saw Norrie enter qualifying at the Geneva Open, a small clay tournament staged on the eve of Roland-Garros.
He won, and kept winning, until he came up against eventual champion Novak Djokovic chasing his 100th ATP title in the semi-finals. Predictably, a Herculean three-set battle ensued, with Djokovic calling the win his ‘toughest’ at the tournament thus far. With matches – and confidence – in his legs, Norrie next met the Serbian superstar on Court Philippe-Chatrier in Paris, having played his way with unexpected promise to the fourth round.
‘It started with that momentum,’ Norrie notes. ‘And I think that was one thing that the beginning of the year, I was never able to get momentum.
It was like, okay, get momentum – I was sick. Get momentum – I’m tired. Or someone else was playing good. So there’s a lot of different factors that go into it.
‘The schedule is long, yes, but it’s up to you to rest, and I think it’s up to you to learn, and I think there always is a pressure when the tournaments are there to play them, because you see other guys getting the points. So there’s a pressure from guys passing you, but at the end of the day, I want to enjoy my tennis, and I did that this year, so I was happy.’
Happiness on court has in part stemmed from happiness off-court. Taking the break and making it count, trying to be better at resting and enjoying life in Monaco, where Norrie is learning to explore the Cote d’Azur, taking pleasure from going on hikes and swimming in the Mediterranean.
Norrie put his off-season to good use and proposed to his long-term girlfriend Louise Jacobi
Part of his off-season reward was taking his first family holiday in 15 years, to South Africa, where he was born. Norrie also used the trip, which included a safari in Kruger National Park, to propose to his ‘best friend’ and long-time partner Louise Jacobi.
But focus switches now to 2026, but after a year which Norrie emphatically stated was his most enjoyable on tour, his goals are psychological rather than physical – a misdirection which should only serve to further unnerve his opponents.
‘I think you just just trying to enjoy,’ Norrie repeats. ‘If I want to do a trip or not play one tournament, I want to enjoy that.
‘I want to make sure that when I do go to the court, I’m ready to absolutely bite the other guy’s head off and compete as hard as I can. And, yeah,
‘I’m just lucky to play tennis and have great family and great friends. So I’m fortunate, but I want to keep pushing.
‘I never want to stop, or do less, or not try, or whatever. So I’m always full-on with everything.’
Cameron Norrie is a Hytro investor and ambassador. The pioneering BFR (Blood Flow Restriction) wearables brand is scientifically proven to enhance performance and accelerate recovery. Hytro is trusted by over 300 elite sports teams worldwide and is empowering athletes at every level to train smarter. Learn more at hytro.com.