NORRIE’S OUR NEW NATIONAL TREASURE
Djokovic next after Brit wins epic duel
This was Cam Norrie’s royal seal of approval moment, his BBC moment, the primetime rumble that will send him soaring into the public consciousness.
Never again will he be able to run and cycle around the streets near his Putney home in anonymity, not following his gutsy progress into the semi-finals of Wimbledon.
That has largely been the case up until now, but even Wills and Kate want to know his name after what became an emotional passage on Court 1. he finally cracked the admirable David Goffin in the 11th game of the deciding set to win 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in three hours and 28 minutes.
in the course of it he had the schedulers at the national broadcaster in a quandary about which drama should be on the main channel — that at sW19 or the teetering administration at Number 10. Who knows where the country will be by Friday, but one thing guaranteed is that Britain’s best tennis player will be in the semi- finals of a summer sporting showpiece.
The opponent will be defending champion Novak Djokovic. Let us ignore for now the detail that Norrie will have to produce something much better than this to properly challenge him. Djokovic will not outplay him for most of the match and still allow himself to be beaten, as happened with Goffin yesterday.
Yet the Belgian knows, as does all the men’s locker room, that Norrie is not someone you get into a long grind with while expecting to emerge as the winner. it was to the GB No 1’s immense credit that he dragged this into the kind of deciding- set scrap in which his strength and stamina were always going to serve him well.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, chaperoned by Tim henman — veteran of so many heart-stopping moments in these parts — left the comfort of the Royal Box to sit in the members’ area. They lapped up the exploits of this cheerful citizen of the UK and wider Commonwealth.
The scale of the occasion, and the effort he had put in to create it, saw a rare display of emotion at the end from Norrie, who ploughs his lone furrow without complaint or complication. he was close to tears in his post-match interview on court. ‘ Just winning a match like this, i’m in shock,’ he said. ‘it’s flashbacks to all of the hard work, all of the pre-seasons and all of the sacrifices i’ve had to make.’
Wimbledon is making much this year of Centre Court’s centenary. Less advertised is the fact that it is 25 years since Court 1 opened, and this felt fitting to mark its silver anniversary. Rarely has it produced a more throaty roar than those which accompanied the more pivotal moments of the late fourth set and the decider.
And it was certainly the first time the sometimes overlooked Norrie has had many thousands chanting his name in unison.
‘ he is a huge fighter and the way he fought, he deserves his spot in the semi-finals,’ said the generous Goffin, who added that the crowd was ‘very fair play’.
Norrie (left) will rue the fact that the enforced absence of ranking points will not help propel him inside the world’s top 10, having started last season at a relatively obscure No 71. he has, though, earned himself a minimum £535,000 by making the last four. he has provided huge value for money for a tournament buffeted by controversy, which could yet have the last laugh by boasting an enticing men’s semi-final line-up of Djokovic versus a Brit, and Rafael Nadal versus Nick Kyrgios.
When it comes to playing tennis, Norrie is a man with a plan. he has patterns of play that he prefers, which utilise his strengths as a left-hander and have wreaked havoc with opponents during his 18-month ascent of the rankings. Except a lot of it was not working for the first hour of a match against the man who, in 2015, made a decent stab at preventing GB winning the Davis Cup final against an Andy Murray-inspired team.
World No 58 Goffin resembled more the player he was then, the highly skilled baseliner with a serious face who delivers precision groundstrokes.
Norrie was having particular problems directing his own forehand, and only started to make an impression when the Belgian’s level dropped at the end of the second set. having played more than four and a half hours on sunday, Goffin was looking weary. Yet the British player’s mistakes early in the third set meant he failed to capitalise on any momentum, and soon he was 0-4 down.
Norrie looked like he might pay for applying too little variety until Goffin again dipped at the end of the fourth and he was broken for 5-3.
Now the home player, who spent his early lockdown long-distance running, was in his favourite territory — a physical battle. still it was desperately close until 5-5, when Goffin blinked first and was broken decisively in an error- strewn game. Finding an ace at 30-30, Norrie just about closed it out.
he might not hold too many terrors for Djokovic but it will be on Centre Court and different in that the pressure will be on his opponent, without any cloying expectation upon himself. The British No 1 is prime among the game’s over-achievers and he has already excelled himself again.