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The Briton dug deep to record a 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-1 victory after two hours, 52 minutes in difficult, humid conditions. De Minaur double faulted while holding his lone match point at 5-2, 40/30 in the second set. Serving for the match again at 5-4, the Aussie suffered a similar fate, double faulting to surrender the game on Norrie’s fourth break point.

After the 30 year-old Norrie earned a break to stay alive, the No. 37 swung freely and began to hold the advantage in bruising baseline exchanges. Norrie displayed his typical resiliency throughout the battle and converted eight of his 13 break chances, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to reach the fourth round.

“The level was so high the first two sets,” Norrie said in his on-court interview. “From the beginning, [Alex] came out firing and I was like, ‘Woah, this is a crazy level’, and I had to match it. I managed to go up a break [in the first set], but he stayed really tough and I know he’s so tough as a competitor and stole that first set.

“He was looking good in the second set and I think he took the foot off the gas very slightly and I managed to free up, steal the tie-break and then it was just a battle. I was just trying to play point for point. No time to think. I just stayed point for point and I managed to win 6-1. It was a great match to win and to test my level and I can take so much confidence from this one.”

Entering the match, De Minaur was the highest seed remaining at the hard-court tournament. Now that title belongs to Ben Shelton, the fifth seed and defending champion.

Up next for Norrie is 18th seed Arthur Fils, who earlier cruised past Mariano Navone 6-3, 6-2 to maintain his impressive record at Masters 1000 events this year. 

The 22 year-old Frenchman has advanced to at least the fourth round at four of the five Masters 1000 tournaments this season, with his best results semi-final runs in Miami and Madrid.

In an impressive serving display against Navone, Fils did not face a break point and won 91 per cent of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

Luciano Darderi also advanced, beating Shang Juncheng 4-6, 6-1, 6-4. 

Shang was competing in his second event since February and saved five match points in his second-round win against Andrey Rublev.