Alex de Minaur's National Bank Open in Montreal ended in heartbreak and controversy after a dramatic three-set defeat to Cameron Norrie, capped by a fiery on-court exchange with his own coaching team.
With Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Novak Djokovic all absent from the draw, and second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime withdrawing before his opening match, the field was wide open. Top seed Alexander Zverev and fellow contenders Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, and Andrey Rublev all fell in the second round, leaving De Minaur as the highest remaining seed alongside defending champion Ben Shelton.
The Australian appeared well on track, winning the first set 7-5 and racing to a 5-2 lead in the second. He even earned a match point while serving for the match, but Norrie saved it brilliantly, broke twice in the second set, and took the tiebreak to level the contest.
The tension spilled into the stands during a coaching changeover, when De Minaur's coach pointed out that Norrie was simply spinning his forehand high and loopy. The fired-up Australian shot back with a blunt response, telling his coach to come on court and try it himself. Ironically, the outburst may have sparked a brief turnaround, as De Minaur broke back to win the opener.
But the third set was a disaster. De Minaur had break points, even a 0-40 opportunity, yet couldn't convert. Norrie ran away with the decider 6-1, completing a remarkable reversal.
Afterward, De Minaur acknowledged it was a missed opportunity given the weakened field, while Norrie called it a top-three win in terms of attitude.
TennisDraw users had De Minaur circled as a strong title contender heading into this week's action.
