The two keys for Norrie to beat Alcaraz in Paris

Carlos Navarro | 27 Oct 2025 | 17.57

Cameron Norrie will face Alcaraz tomorrow... and he has a plan to beat him. Source: Getty

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Carlos Alcaraz will face, in his debut in Paris, an old acquaintance from the circuit, someone he has already faced in seven occasions, and a dance partner whose steps he may know perfectly. This opponent is Cameron Norrie, who was at his peak when the player from Murcia burst onto the scene and entered the elite of world tennis, managing to cause him difficulties and even defeat him on two occasions.

However, those victories are now far behind: since then, Carlos Alcaraz has unlocked his full potential and has become the leader of the new generation, while Cameron Norrie has experienced ups and downs in a constant battle to reclaim top positions. Their last encounter, in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, displayed a very dominant Carlos: Cam will have to be very precise and make a couple of tactical adjustments to unsettle a clearly superior Alcaraz in terms of ball rhythm.

Norrie will rely on parallel play and must have a key ally in his serve

It will be crucial for the Briton to keep Alcaraz constantly guessing where his shots are headed. At Wimbledon, Cam was completely overwhelmed by the pace and ball speed of Carlos, who managed to find his forehand in the early stages of the point: to prevent this, Norrie will need to utilize parallel shots, particularly his backhand, forcing his opponent to move laterally over the backhand side and thus keeping him away from the central area of the court.

Indeed, in that victory over the player from Murcia in Cincinnati, the data clearly shows that every time Cameron dared to hit both forehand and backhand shots down the line, he was very successful: with his cross-court forehand, he put himself in an advantageous position in 29% of the occasions and only in a challenging position in 20%; with the cross-court backhand, he found himself in a winning position in 29% of the instances and barely had issues in 11% of them. Whenever he dared to vary the rhythms and find risky shots, he was able to disrupt Carlos' preferred patterns.

But Norrie's tennis didn't stop there. In his arsenal, he has a crucial weapon that provided him with a good set of short points on that American night, essential points, especially on this surface, to overcome the threat of the player from Murcia. His lefty wide serve, especially on the ad side, must be a true hammer: on that day, 60% of his serves on the ad side were wide, with a success rate of 73% (!), a similar figure to when he served wide on the deuce side, surprising and targeting Alcaraz’s forehand (he used it less, but with the same success rate, 73%).

These serves then allow the Briton to quickly secure the center of the court and open up with the forehand with weight towards the opposite side, enabling him to attack his drive with more space and positioning him in the middle of the court, ready to be the aggressor. That share of short points allowed Cameron that day to counterbalance the superiority of the player from Murcia from the back of the court: combined with his precise and fast attacks with parallel shots, they kept him in the limelight and ultimately led him to victory, becoming the two clear ways to unsettle Alcaraz, who, despite that, will remain highly favored for a match where his forehand will be the key factor. Will Carlos struggle against an old acquaintance? Will Norrie be able to resurrect certain ghosts from the past? We will see in tomorrow's match.

Image Source: Insights by Tennis VIZ

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Las dos claves por las que Norrie podría ganar a Alcaraz en París

Cameron Norrie