Tennis star’s Welsh connections revealed
TENNIS star Cameron Norrie has often spoken about his Scottish roots – but fewer people are aware of his Welsh heritage or his link to our sister paper the Western Mail.
The 26-year-old British number one, who faced defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic in yesterday’s semifinal, was born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand but he represents Britain. His mother Helen was born in Cardiff and his father David in Glasgow.
Helen’s father Glyn Williams, a former chief sub-editor at the Western Mail, was born in Cardiff in 1928 and brought up in the city’s Adamsdown, attending St Illtyd’s High School. He went on to study at Harvard Business School before becoming a reporter for newspapers in Breconshire and Montgomeryshire.
Glyn worked at the Western Mail between 1955 and 1966. While in charge of print production he became friends with fellow sub-editor Donald Woods, an anti-apartheid activist from South Africa. When Donald moved to South Africa’s Daily Dispatch, Glyn accepted an invitation to join him and later became the newspaper’s editor.
Cameron’s sister Bronwen told the BBC: “My mother’s parents (Glyn and Joan Williams) lived in Cardiff until their mid-30s. My grandfather worked for the Western Mail in Cardiff but he, my grandmother and the rest of the family emigrated to South Africa.”
Microbiologists Helen and David both played squash to university level. They lived in Johannesburg but left with Cameron – when he was three – and Bronwen after a “traumatic” burglary at their home. The family moved to Auckland, New Zealand,
where Cameron would use a repurposed squash racket to play tennis.
Helen, 59, told the Guardian: “When Cameron was four or five, we cut down one of my old squash rackets so it looked a bit like a lollipop. We used a big bouncy plastic ball and drew a line in the concrete of the driveway for the net. He would keep score and he just wanted to play all the time.”
Cameron, who was 16 when he moved to London with his family, still has family in Wales. Bronwen said: “My great-uncle Ralph Williams still lives in Wales and we are going to see him when we can. Sport is extremely important to us as a family. We all love watching and playing sport. My mother runs almost every day, and my father cycles and plays tennis.”
Cameron supports the New Zealand All Blacks in rugby union and Newcastle United Football
Club. “Although we are aware of our Welsh heritage, it could not be said that there is a difficult decision to make for Cam between Wales and the All Blacks,” said Bronwen.
During an interview with BBC presenter John Inverdale in 2018, Cameron was asked if his friends from New Zealand thought he was “starting to sound more English now”. He replied: “I’m not English. I prefer to say British because of the Scots thing.”
In another interview Cameron, who lives in Putney, London, said: “I consider myself British. Both my parents are British. My mum is Welsh and my dad is Scottish, with a filthy Scottish accent.”
Ranked 12th in the world, he is the first British man to reach the Wimbledon singles semis since Andy Murray in 2016. However, he lost to top seed Djokovic who won by three sets to one.