Cameron Norrie saved a match point on his opponent's serve, then won in three sets to knock out third seed Alex de Minaur and reach the fourth round of the Canadian Open in Montreal.

The scoreline was 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 6-1. The match lasted two hours and 52 minutes on Centre Court at IGA Stadium on August 6, 2026, play having begun after a rain delay (ATP Tour).

De Minaur, ranked world number seven and the Australian third seed, held a match point on his own serve in the second set — a chance to close out the match by winning his own service game. He double-faulted. Norrie seized the tiebreak 7-5, and the third set was one-way traffic (BBC Sport; ATP Tour).

Sky Sports reported that Norrie was down 7-5 5-2 with De Minaur holding match point before the turnaround began (Sky Sports). A two-set deficit in tennis is steep. A match point down on the opponent's racket is steeper. Norrie climbed both.

The 30-year-old Briton, ranked world number 37, won 52% of total points in the match — 111 of 213 — and returned with real purpose, winning 32% of points on De Minaur's first serve, a high figure at this level (National Bank Open). A 25-shot rally between the two was highlighted by the ATP Tour as one of the exchanges of the tournament (ATP Tour).

Norrie arrived in Montreal on form, having reached the semi-finals in Los Cabos the week before (BBC Sport). His career-high ranking of world number eight now feels less like a memory and more like a target. He faced France's Arthur Fils in the fourth round for a place in the quarter-finals.

De Minaur's exit deepened a draw already stripped of its biggest names. World number one Jannik Sinner and third-ranked Novak Djokovic withdrew before the tournament began. Top seed Alexander Zverev lost his first match. Sixth-ranked Daniil Medvedev, seventh seed Taylor Fritz and ninth-ranked Flavio Cobolli all fell in the second round (BBC Sport). After De Minaur's defeat, fifth seed Ben Shelton was the only top-ten player left in the men's field.

That context matters. The seeds are the protected rankings that stop the best players meeting early, and when they tumble, the draw opens up. Montreal has been wide open all week, and Norrie has played his way through the gap.