INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Cameron Norrie beat Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2 on Saturday in an 86-minute semifinal at the BNP Paribas Open, which will crown the first men’s winner ranked outside the Top 25 since 2010.
The combined ATP and WTA tournament has been rife with upsets during its two-week run, among them No. 1 seeds Daniil Medvedev and Karolina Pliskova.
Norrie advanced to Sunday’s final, where he’ll play either Nikoloz Basilashvili or Taylor Fritz.
It’s the first time in the tournament’s 45-year history that all four semifinalists were ranked outside of the Top 25. Norrie is 25th, Dimitrov 28th, Basilashvili 36th and Fritz 39th.
The last man outside the Top 25 to win at Indian Wells was No. 26 Ivan Ljubicic.
There were four service breaks in the first set, with Norrie earning three of them.
Norrie converted the only break of the second set in the first game when the Bulgarian netted a forehand. Norrie’s forehand down-the-line winner gave him a 4-2 lead and he served out the match at love.
The second-seeded duo of Su-Wei Hsieh and Elise Mertens defeated Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Rybakina 7-6 (1), 6-3 to win the women’s doubles title. Hsieh and Mertens earned $414,500.