Indian Wells: Basilashvili and Norrie eye maiden Masters 1000 title
Oct 17, 2021
California [USA], October 17 : Nikoloz Basilashvili will face Cameron Norrie in the men's 2021 BNP Paribas Open final at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Sunday.
Playing the first semifinal in the Californian desert, Cameron Norrie played with poise under pressure to dispatch Grigor Dimitrov, 6-2, 6-4 in one hour and 26 minutes.
The 26-year-old Briton was tactically clinical against Dimitrov on a sweltering Saturday afternoon in the Palm Desert, taking advantage of the Bulgarian's fatigue after two consecutive upset wins over Daniil Medvedev and Hubert Hurkacz in the fourth round and quarterfinals, respectively.
On Sunday's final, not only Norrie will be playing for the biggest title of his career, he'll be playing for tournament history as he looks to become the first-ever British champion in any discipline (men's or women's singles, doubles) at the BNP Paribas Open.
In the second semifinal of the day, Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili became the first player from his homeland to advance to an ATP Masters 1000 final in Tennis Paradise, dismissing Californian Taylor Fritz, 7-6(5), 6-3. It marked their third meeting of the season, the first two coming in back-to-back weeks in March. Basilashvili claimed their semifinal encounter in Doha en route to the title, while Fritz returned the favor in Dubai in the second round.
The 29th seed hadn't won a main-draw match in Indian Wells ahead of this year's tournament. Irakli Labadze was the last Georgian to advance to an ATP Masters 1000 semifinal (2004 Indian Wells). Basilashvili is into his third ATP Tour final of the season (2-0) and eighth in his career (5-2).
