Spotlight on Norrie in quarters
CAMERON Norrie has stayed under the radar during his eightmonth reign as British number one but that is changing at Wimbledon and he will find himself in the full glare of the spotlight if he can reach the semi-finals.
The 26-year-old beat Tommy Paul in straight sets to make his first grand slam quarter-final, where he will take on experienced Belgian David Goffin today.
Should Norrie win, he will join Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Roger Taylor as the only British men to reach the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the All England Club in the Open Era.
And he is favoured to do so as the ninth seed and a consistent winner of titles on the ATP Tour over the last two seasons, including at Indian Wells in October – one of the biggest events outside the grand slams.
Norrie will certainly not be underestimating Goffin, who is a former top-10 player and through to the quarter-finals of a slam for the fourth time – and second at Wimbledon – after battling back from injury problems last year.
Goffin beat Frances Tiafoe in five sets in the third round, and Norrie said: “He’s a very experienced player. He really likes the grass. He’s played a lot of big matches. It’s going to be tough.
“One thing for sure, I know that I’m going to get into a lot of rallies with him.
“He’s not going to come and serve me off the court, which is good. It’s going to be another physical
match, which is great for me. I’m looking forward to competing. It’s going to be another huge challenge.”
Goffin, 31, missed Wimbledon last year because of an ankle injury and was then out for several months with a knee problem.
Now ranked 58, the Belgian said: “It means a lot. For me, it’s almost like a back-to-back quarter-finals because I didn’t play last year and 2020 was closed with Covid. The last time I played before this year was the quarter-final against Novak (Djokovic) on Centre Court.
“I was very excited to come back here because it’s a very important tournament for me. It’s probably my favourite tournament of the year, a place that I love, surface that I can play really well.
“At the beginning of the year I had to fight and stay positive to come back to my best level. The last few weeks or last few months was much better.”