World number two Carlos Alcaraz clinched his first ATP Tour title since the US Open courtesy of a two-set win over Cameron Norrie in the final of the Argentina Open.
Having been forced to miss the Australian Open with a leg injury, the 19-year-old returned to triumphant ways with a 6-3 7-5 win over second seed Norrie, who broke Alcaraz while the Spaniard was serving for the match but could not conjure up a magnificent fightback.
There would be no comfortable holds for either man in the earliest exchanges - showpiece nerves getting to the pair perhaps - as the scoreboard showed 30-40 in each of the first four service games.
Alcaraz and Norrie followed that up with back-to-back love holds for 3-3 to keep each other at bay, but once the US Open champion found his stride, Norrie was powerless to defend against it.
A Norrie double fault brought up the first two break points of the match for Alcaraz in the seventh game, and he converted the second before surviving another somewhat uncomfortable hold.
Needing to hold to stay in the first set, Norrie once again ceded two break points to the world number two and lost the first set in just over 36 minutes, but Alcaraz's 1-0 lead did not come without difficulty.
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Norrie immediately came out all guns blazing in the first game of the second set - taking a 30-0 lead on the Alcaraz serve and forcing him into a deuce - but the Spaniard's resilience came to the fore as he clinched an opening hold.
Any slim hopes of a Norrie comeback faded further when Alcaraz immediately went a set and a break up in the second game, before backing it up with another somewhat uncomfortable hold for a 3-0 advantage in the second set.
Alcaraz continued to prove too hot to handle on serve, as Norrie's wait for a first break point opportunity of the match went on, and the Spaniard soon found himself 5-2 up and one game away from the title.
Norrie had seemingly just delayed the inevitable with a love hold, but he would finally earn two long-awaited break points in the ninth game - winning the second on a double fault to sensationally keep the contest alive.
The Wimbledon semi-finalist backed up his break with a hold to level matters at 5-5, but Alcaraz staved off a late comeback for the Brit, who was broken for one final time in a tight 12th game to bring an end to a 93-minute contest.
Alcaraz now has seven ATP Tour titles to his name from 10 finals, while Norrie has lost each of his last three showpiece events at the top level, also going down to Richard Gasquet in the final of the ASB Classic in January.
Ben Knapton
