Former Kiwi Norrie’s switch to Britain
Cameron Norrie’s decision to switch his tennis allegiance from New Zealand to Britain is paying dividends.
The 22-year-old has spent the past three weeks practising in Argentina with world No 11 Juan Martin del Potro and 26th-ranked Diego Schwartzman.
Norrie was born in South Africa but moved to New Zealand as a toddler and made it into the top 10 in the world junior rankings while playing under the New Zealand flag. But in 2013, he switched to Britain, eligible because his parents were both born in the United Kingdom.
“They have great coaches over there and tennis is a big hub in Europe. They have great physios and nutritionists. I was lucky enough to get wildcards into some of the big tournaments like main draw Queens and Wimbledon this year. Everything is going well for me now.” Norrie said.
Norrie went through the US college system at Texas University before turning pro earlier this year. He was ranked 277 in July but had a phenomenal first few months on tour since going pro to end the year ranked 114.
He reached the second round of the US Open in September, beat world No 49 Horacio Zeballos in the first round of the Queen’s grass court tournament in July and had some strong results on the ATP Challenger tour.
“I am really stoked with how I am doing and playing. I was still at college for the first five months of the year so I am a bit surprised with how well I did so early.
“My game has just been a steady progression.” Norrie said. “The biggest improvements have come with my concentration and match practice and ability to play my best tennis more often. I have got a little bit more mature and bigger physically and I am using that and competing really
hard week in and week out and it’s paying dividends.”
Norrie is coached by an Argentine he met in Texas, Facundo Lugones, who organised the off season-training camp in Buenos Aires.
“There are obviously a lot of great Argentine players. The last couple of days I have been hitting with del Potro who hasn’t said too much to me but we have had high level practices. “It’s great to practice with them and see their professionalism.”
Norrie, who would possibly have been offered a main draw wildcard into Auckland due to his Kiwi heritage, won’t be back in New Zealand.
“The plan was to come back and play the ASB Classic but I missed out on the main draw of the Australian Open by about 10 spots.” Norrie said.
He will have to play qualifying in Melbourne the week of the ASB Classic. “But it is what it is. I can’t expect to be in the main draw in Aussie in my first year in pro tennis.”