Norrie senses time right to perform on big stage
Only Court No2 for Cameron Norrie, the first Briton since 2017 to appear among the top 10 Wimbledon seeds, but there was at least a welcome off-court upgrade.
He was seeded 29th last year, but had naturally still assumed that his status among Wimbledon’s best 32 men would grant him access to the All England Club’s much soughtafter “seeded locked rooms”. “I went to walk in and the security guy was like, ‘No, no, no, you’re not allowed’,” he said.
“It was the top 14 seeds … for maybe Covid reasons. They put my locker right next to Novak [Djokovic] this year. I was asking him how Centre Court was. Mostly all his stuff was in the way of mine. It’s definitely a different feel. The locker room is incredible.”
That feeling was not quite evident at 11am when he began in front of a half-empty court. Norrie is not quite anonymous around SW19, but the sparse initial crowd did underline just how low he flies under the radar given his quality, which was a shame considering a flawless opening set that lasted just 23 minutes. It felt like Norrie might be done and dusted by lunch, but then came the rain, a 90-minute break, and an opponent in Spain’s Pablo Andujar who found his competitive range.
The second set stretched to a tiebreak, with Andujar furious after twice losing points he thought he had won following mistaken line calls. Andujar challenged both mistakes, but lost the replayed points and was left with only a code violation after a prolonged complaint to the umpire.
A dreadful service game followed at the start of the third set, with Norrie sensing his chance, He was relentlessly consistent with his forehand topspin and faster and flatter double-handed backhand. Victory looked imminent as Norrie forced three match points, but shortly before 3pm, the heavens again opened. “I wasn’t too aware of it until someone shouted, ‘C’mon, Cam, get it done before the rain’,” he said. The players did not resume until 4.05pm – more than five hours after they had first walked on court – when Norrie needed just four minutes to break serve and complete his 6-0, 7-6, 6-3 win. Norrie has never advanced past the third round of a grand slam. But, with doubt over the fitness of Emma Raducanu, the sense grows that the next fortnight could be his chance to step into the limelight.
His victory was ultimately greeted by a considerable roar, and he will surely find himself on one of the show courts tomorrow for his second-round match against former doubles partner Jaume Munar.
“I would like to be on a bigger court, especially with the weather, but I’ll play on any court. I had great support,” he said.