British weather can’t dampen Norrie march
Cam holds nerve through rain delays to get ball rolling
COURT 2 is not quite as glamorous as it half- sounds. It is sandwiched somewhere between courts 9 and 12, so close to the southern fringe of the All England Club that you are practically in the nave of St Mary’s Church.
It was not a starting place entirely befitting Cameron norrie’s status. He is British no 1, the 12th ranked player in the world, and seeded ninth for the Wimbledon crown.
This outpost is also uncovered, which transformed what had looked a breeze past Spanish veteran Pablo Andujar into a twice rain-interrupted test of endurance that required him to wait more than an hour to see out the last four minutes of the match.
But by the end of it, norrie was a clear winner, 6-0, 7-6, 6-3. Here was the tournament’s first British winner of 2022, and his name wasn’t Andy Murray.
The contest began at 11am, before the first punnet had been devoured. The queues still snaked outside, thus rendering the auditorium half-full during the 23 minutes it took norrie to make the 36-year- old Andujar look bang average in a totally one- sided first set.
Andujar broke at the start of the second, before the rain fell for the first time. The covers were pulled on to very Wimbledon-style cheers. The delay took us to beyond 1pm, when Andujar returned with renewed vigour, norrie’s momentum stilled.
They were now playing in bright sunshine, the place was packed, the atmosphere more celebratory. norrie rose to the growing swell by shading a tight second set with a strong tie-break, 7-3. What could possibly detain the down-to-earth 26- year- old norrie’s serene progress when he was 5-3 up in the third?
Only the English weather and his own failure to take three match points that begged for the firm smack of authority. ‘Get this over, Cam, before it rains,’ one shouter urged as the skies once again darkened and faint drops started to fall.
norrie did not oblige by ending it there and then. The downpour intensified. norrie and Andujar re-emerged at about 4pm for the final throes. After eight deuces, norrie broke his opponent’s serve and that was that.
A big cheer went up for the South African-born, new Zealand-raised, American- educated, Putneydomiciled player whose skills and tenacity are increasingly working him into British awareness.
‘I didn’t think about rain coming for a second time until someone shouted for me to hurry up,’ said norrie, who first came to live in London aged 16.
‘Obviously, I was trying to get it done. I looked over and there was a huge grey cloud.
‘After that I had one more match point. It would have been nice to get it done there and then, but it is what it is.
‘Instead I had to wait. You’re on edge. You know you just had chances to finish it. You could be in the showers or eating. I was trying to block that out and focus. I came out a lot better after the second delay than the first.’
norrie has never progressed into the second week of a Grand Slam. As Britain’s only winner of Indian Wells, a feat he achieved last year, putting that right is surely the minimum target this fortnight.
next up, tomorrow, is claycourter Jaume Munar, another Spaniard. The 25- year- old is ranked 71st in the world and his straight-sets victory over Brazilian Thiago Monteiro yesterday was his only win at SW19. He has never been beyond the second round of a Slam.
As for norrie, he is enjoying his first experience of the seeds’ locker room, his reward for zooming up the rankings being a berth next to novak Djokovic. But what about a more prestigious court tomorrow?
‘At least Centre and Court 1 have roofs,’ reasoned norrie. ‘I’d like to be on a bigger court, but I’ll play anywhere.’