Nadal sees off Norrie and now aims to beat Federer’s title tally

ROGER FEDERER might have been looking on anxiously somewhere as Rafael Nadal sent the last British singles player packing from the Australian Open.

Nadal is now four wins away from overtaking the Swiss master’s total of 20 Grand Slam titles and if he pulls that off next week, then Cam Norrie can say he played a small part.

The British No3 put in an admirable performance in dragging the best level seen from the Spaniard so far this fortnight, but was powerless to prevent a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 third-round defeat.

When Nadal takes on Fabio Fognini in the last 16, the Italian will be trying to stop him winning a tenth consecutive straight-sets victory at a major.

Ominously, having beaten Norrie in a deserted Rod Laver Arena due to the restored lockdown in Melbourne, the world No2 reported a clean bill of health for his troublesome back.

‘I was not serving my normal serve for the last 15 days,’ said Nadal. ‘Today is the first day that I started to again use my normal serve. Yesterday I didn’t practice, today I just warmed up with the new, normal movement. The biggest victory is the back is better for the first time today.’

On this week’s evidence, Norrie ought to be going higher than his current ranking of 64. And in making the third round, he added a fig leaf of respectability to another mediocre Grand Slam in singles for the Brits.

Kyle Edmund was injured again, while Andy Murray was not allowed to travel after his positive Covid-19 test. Last night, he reached the final of a Challenger event in Biella, northern Italy, beating Mathias Bourgue 6-0, 7-5. He faces Illya Marchenko today.

This will be the eighth out the last 11 Grand Slams in which no Brit has made the second week of the singles, although for Norrie it should prove a building block.

‘It was good experience to play a big dog like Rafa,’ he said. ‘If I didn’t get the return in the right place and he was getting on a forehand, I was dead in the rally.’

The tournament is now deserted due to a five-day lockdown caused by a local Covid outbreak. There was also the concerning case of Greek player Michail Pervolarakis testing positive at an event in South Africa, having left Melbourne last week.

For Norrie, it means being resigned to not getting home until April at the earliest.

‘My plan was never to go back to the UK. I was going to play tournaments up until Miami (late next month),’ he said. ‘I won’t be going back any time soon.’