Revitalised Norrie glad to be on green grass of home
British No1 Cameron Norrie is feeling refreshed after his exploits on clay as he begins his grass-court campaign at Queen’s Club.
Last year’s runner-up is back at the cinch Championships to start his preparations for Wimbledon, where he will try to make the second week of a major for the first time having been knocked out of the French Open in the third round in May.
Norrie’s Roland Garros exit concluded an encouraging season on clay where he won in Lyon but his efforts took its toll and the 26-year-old needed some down time before he switched his attention to grass.
While Andy Murray and Dan Evans have benefited from beginning their grass-court campaigns early, reaching the finals in Stuttgart and Birmingham respectively, the world No11 is happy to start his SW19 preparations at Queen’s.
“I played so much on the clay and every week I went tournament to tournament, so I definitely needed a break,” Norrie said ahead of facing Grigor Dimitrov today.
“After the French Open I took a couple of days and then wanted to prepare well on the grass before this one so came home and have been training since at the National Tennis Centre, then coming here.”
Last summer proved to be a breakthrough season on grass for Norrie after he followed up his final appearance at Queen’s by reaching the third round at Wimbledon but he knows it will be a different experience on this occasion due to coronavirus-related restrictions being lifted.
“It was a good run but it was a strange one. We were still in the bubble and it wasn’t the biggest of crowds that year so it was a little bit different than usual capacity and atmosphere. For me it was still unbelievable and I had a solid season but here was when I made my big jump points-wise and after this I was seeded at Wimbledon.
“I am looking forward to playing again in my home tournament. I live very close so it is nice to be able to sleep in my own bed for this one.”
Evans stepped up his Wimbledon preparations by winning the Rothesay Open Nottingham for the second time in three years.
He dropped down to the secondtier Challenger Tour to begin his grass-court season and reaped the benefits by reclaiming the title he won in 2019.
Evans did not drop a set all week, finishing off his title run with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Australian Jordan Thompson, who won the Challenger title in Surbiton last week.
The British No2 will climb four places in the rankings today from 35 to 31 and will hope to continue his strong form at the cinch Championships at Queen’s Club, where he takes on defending champion Matteo Berrettini in the first round.
Evans’ victory over Switzerland’s Marc-andrea Huesler on Friday also meant that British No Jack Draper will break into the world top 100 today at No99.