Norrie: I’m in it to win it and I will fly the flag
CAMERON NORRIE promised home fans, “I’m in it to win it”, with some of the big British hopes faltering at Wimbledon.
The British No.1 is seeded No.9 in the draw, but has tended to go under the radar while the focus was on Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray.
But, speaking after both had crashed out of the competition, Norrie, 26, promised to fly the flag for the nation as long as he could – up to and including the final shot of the tournament.
“I’m in it to win it,” said Norrie (above). “I’m feeling good and looking forward to the next one.
“Winning would be a big shock to me, but I’m still in the tournament.
“I mean, I’m going to have to do things a lot better in terms of execution, but I’m feeling good physically.
“There is a long way to go, so I’m not really focusing on that. Just taking it match by match.
“There were six British men through the first round for the first time in a while. A lot of opportunities, a lot of younger guys coming through – that’s great.
“But if I’m the last Brit standing, it is what it is. I’m going to go and treat it like any other match, go out and compete as hard as I can.
“I’m playing one of my favourite tournaments – if not my favourite tournament of the year – so I just need to go out and enjoy that.
“It is another opportunity to embrace the pressure, embrace the challenge of trying to make the second week.”
His second-round win against Jaume Munar (below) of Spain was tricky enough, though, with Norrie having to come from behind to win 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-0 6-2 in a match lasting three hours and 13 minutes.
But, with world No.93 Steve Johnson next, a spate of withdrawals and defeats for big names have left him with a relatively open run to the latter stages.
“If you tell me all that stuff, I’ll take that,” he said. “I’ll take being the highest seed left.
“It’s absolutely nothing at the end of the day – it just means I’m doing well this year.
“I won a lot of matches, so I can use that to my advantage and take the confidence from that.
“I’ll definitely take having a better draw rather than not. I’ve had some tough ones in the past.”