By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, March 15, 2023
No. 14-seeded Frances Tiafoe swept 2021 champion Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4 to charge into his maiden Masters 1000 semifinal at Indian Wells.
Photo credit: Matthew Stockman/Getty
Luring Cameron Norrie forward with a lithe drop shot, Frances Tiafoe lasered a backhand pass down the line that froze the Briton.
It was rush hour on Stadium 1 and Tiafoe was directing traffic.
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A sharp Tiafoe broke serve four times defeating 2021 champion Norrie 6-4, 6-4 to reach his maiden Masters 1000 semifinal at Indian Wells.
US Open semifinalist Tiafoe returned with precision snapping Norrie's eight-match winning streak and celebrated with a primal scream.
It was Tiafoe's first win over Norrie as he improved to 14-3 on the season. The 10th-seeded Norrie fell to 21-4 in 2023.
Tiafoe applied his versatility to drag Norrie off the baseline at times and played crush and rush banging his backhand return down the line to attack second serves. Tiafoe closed with conviction winning 12 of 15 trips to net today.
The 14th-seeded Tiafoe has swept all eight sets he's played powering into a semifinal showdown against either 2021 US Open champion Daniil Medvedev or 23rd-seeded Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Eighty-nine minutes into the match, Tiafoe's persistence paid off as Norrie scattered a shot wide. That error gave Tiafoe the insurance break and a 5-2 second-set lead.
That back-up break proved pivotal when Tiafoe double-faulted back a break in the eighth game.
The Rio de Janeiro rolled through a love hold backing up the break for 4-5 and shifting pressure squarely back on Tiafoe's shoulders.
Serving for his first Masters semifinal a second time, Tiafoe dropped a topspin forehand to open, slashed his fourth ace for triple match point and closed a confident victory in 99 minutes.