Kilted Kiwi set for game of his life

KILTED Kiwi Cameron Norrie plans to come out swinging as he plays the biggest match of his life so far against JoWilfried Tsonga today.

The 21-year-old All Blacks fan, whose dad David hails from Kings Park in Glasgow, will be clad in all white as he enters the competition for the first time as a wild card and feels he has nothing to lose against the 32-year-old Frenchman and World No 10.

Norrie was born in Johannesburg, brought up in Auckland, and went to college in Texas but is now back playing under the British flag, having been called up as fifth man by Leon Smith for the Davis Cup ties against Canada and France.

“I’m sure it is going to be a great experience for me,” said Norrie, a left hander who rose to become the No.1 ranked player in the NCAA system, and has beaten Malik Jaziri and Horacio Zeballos since turning pro recently.

“Playing a great player like Tsonga, I don’t have anything to lose, I can just go out there, try to play my best tennis and take it to him. He is a pretty flashy player, pretty special. So I am looking to go out there and enjoy it. He has been in a little bit of a funk but he is such a great player that I am just going to have to be ready for anything.”

Norrie is proud of his Scottish heritage, even if he dislikes haggis and hasn’t spent too much time north of the border. “I have been to Scotland a couple of time, my dad’s side of the family live in Aberdeen now and my dad grew up in Glasgow,” he said.

“I visited Kintore, which is a nice little town, and my dad is a big Rangers fan so all he talks about is how much he hates Celtic! It was a hell of an experience to get called into the Davis Cup team and big thanks to Leon for that – hopefully one day I will get to play a tie.

“Jamie was there but I didn’t meet Andy til Queens, when he came up to me and my coach and introduced himself which was pretty humble of him.”