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The 15th-ranked Schwartzman was heavily favoured against Norrie
but had no answers in their quarter-final, as the 26-year-old
picked up his 45th win of the year and is now set to crack the
top 20 of the world rankings on Monday.
"Definitely my biggest match of my career," said Norrie, who
picked up his first ATP title at the Los Cabos Open in July.
"Honestly out there, once the match begun, I was feeling very
relaxed, and I was very in the present. I wasn't really thinking
too much and just going out and playing just like another
match."
It was the latest success for Norrie in a transformative year,
after he defeated Wimbledon semifinalist Denis Shapovalov and
world number five Andrey Rublev earlier this month en route to
the San Diego Open final, where he lost to Norway's Casper Ruud.
He reached the finals of the Queen's Club Championships, Lyon
Open and Estoril Open this year, as well.
"It was never really a goal of mine, but it's definitely a great
bonus to be British No. 1," he told reporters. "I want to keep
pushing. I think I've got a lot of things to improve on, but I
think it's one of those things you've got to enjoy."
He next faces Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, who survived a
third-set tiebreak against eighth seed Hubert Hurkacz in their
quarter-final on Thursday, a day after he stunned number-one
seed Daniil Medvedev.
"I'm just really pleased to be playing my best level at these
bigger events. Just enjoying the process and enjoying playing
the bigger matches," he said.
"There is always going to be a bigger match and a bigger
opportunity. I was just happy with how I handled myself in terms
of the situation today."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
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