EXCLUSIVE
JUST because you’ve been brought up on the other side of the world, it doesn’t mean you don’t know the words to Loch Lomond or The Proclaimers.
Glasgow might just have missed out on possibly a final chance to see one of its favourite sons in competitive action next weekend but Andy Murray’s unavailability for the Davis Cup tie against Uzbekistan presents a first opportunity to root for another star of the British tennis scene whose ancestry can be traced back to this city.
Cameron Norrie was born in Johannesburg, raised in Auckland and completed his studies in Fort Worth, Texas, but the Scottish influence in him runs strong. His father David was born and raised a couple of miles away from the Emirates Arena in King’s Park. Norrie Jnr might sneakily prefer the All Blacks to win a Lions test but in every other way, in his own words, he feels ‘pretty Scottish’.
“I’ve got goosebumps thinking about it,” says the World No 67, who goes into Friday’s tie as Leon Smith’s top ranked singles player in the absence of Murray as he rehabs his hip issue and Kyle Edmund, who has been suffering from illness.
“First of all, it is such an honour to be selected for the Davis Cup team again, I can’t wait until I get there and compete. It is going to be a hell of an experience.
“And probably even more so for my dad,” added Norrie. “He grew up in Glasgow, just near King’s Park. He is coming over from New Zealand – I convinced him to buy the ticket! So he is excited and I am excited.
“I am going to be a little bit nervous competing in my first home tie but I just can’t wait to get out there.
“All I know is that the atmosphere at those Glasgow ties is incredible – I have heard Jamie and Andy talking about it all. I really don’t know too much about what is going to happen. But it is indoors, it is going to be really rowdy and I can’t wait.”
Norrie Jnr hasn’t been in Glasgow since a whistlestop visit prior to Junior Wimbledon as a teenager but he has visited his uncle Alex and his cousins in Kintore, Aberdeenshire, and having a proper look around the place is on his to-do list. “I’ve never done the tour with my dad, but I am sure he will show me everything I need to see this time around,” said Norrie. “I might even go to a Rangers game – if I can squeeze one in. I am not the biggest fan personally, but my dad is a huge fan, he grew up watching their matches all his life. So if I was to pick out of the two it would be Rangers, which is something Leon [Smith] definitely wouldn’t agree with!”
For all this most gentle of Old Firm rivalries in the GB Davis Cup squad, captain Smith – a Celtic fan – has been a huge influence in Norrie’s career. Quick to bring him along for a match with a controversial outcome against Canada in February 2017, Andy Murray’s first coach then handed him his first playing action against Spain back in February, being rewarded with a comeback from two sets to love down against World No 23 Roberto Bautista Agut which goes down as one of the best GB Davis Cup debuts in history.
“Leon has been great to me,” says Norrie. “He has always really believed in me, and he gave me a lot of confidence going into that Spanish match. He just basically told me that upsets do happen and just to get out there and fight as hard as I can. We are much more of a favourite going into this tie than we were taking on Spain on the clay, so it is a little bit different. It is on hard court which I am a lot more comfortable with, but we can’t take it lightly.”
While Jamie Murray, who will play doubles with Dom Inglot, is included alongside Dan Evans and Jay Clarke, the tie will have a different flavour without Andy Murray, a man who typically made sure to go over and introduce himself personally to Norrie a year back. “For sure, Andy’s are hard shoes to fill,” said Norrie. “It is a shame he can’t be out there, but we still have some great players on the team and there is going to be some high-quality tennis. It is going to be a battle and we are going to go out and fight as hard as we can.
“My initiation into the team was in Canada, it was my debut but I didn’t actually play,” he added. “It was an opening ceremony thing, in an old war museum, in front of about 500 people. I had to give a quick two-minute speech and I had never been more nervous but I managed to do alright. I kept it pretty simple, we were playing Canada so I gave it the Nova Scotia link, that was basically all I had. It was nice that Andy wasn’t there, I’m sure he would have given me a hard time!”