There’s no reason I can’t have a deep run here ... I’m pushing hard to win my first slam
JACK DRAPER is having his damaged shoulder assessed today, while Dan Evans has already moved his attention to the grasscourt season, as has Andy Murray, who decided to miss the French Open.
That leaves British interest here at Roland Garros down to just one in either singles.
For a time yesterday, it looked like Cameron Norrie would be packing his bags and heading home, before recovering from a controversial umpire call and a break down in the deciding set to edge France’s Benoit Paire 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 amid a fervent crowd.
A similar reception awaits tomorrow with another French opponent in Lucas Pouille, who conducted the crowd in a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise following his straight-sets first-round win over Austria’s Jurij Rodionov.
Despite two of Norrie’s five ATP titles coming on clay, the 27-year-old has never made it beyond the third round of the French Open, but believes 2023 could be different.
He said: “There’s no reason why I can’t have a deep run here. I’m feeling good physically, I’ve had a lot of time with my team to work on lots of different things, I’ve got a lot of match practice in me.”
The No14 seed had struggled to make inroads at the Grand Slams until last year’s Wimbledon, where he was a surprise semi-finalist before losing to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
That experience has given him the hunger for more at the four Majors.
“I just want to have more of it and have those deeper runs at the Slams,” he said. “I’ve always said I want to play well at the Grand Slams and have my best results there.
“There’s so much history in all these tournaments. But, for me, nothing really changed from making that semi-finals bar it being almost a boost to want to be there more and having an indication I have the level to play there.”
The difference in Paris to his Wimbledon experience is that it is without the goldfish nature of being the leading British Grand Slam player at SW19. A year ago, his every move was pored over, from him cycling to the grounds to his girlfriend watching from the players’ box.
“At Wimbledon, there’s a lot more eyes on me,” he said. “And you do feel that expectation, but you can use the home support and the energy of the crowd. Definitely, last year, they got behind me, so for sure I’m trying to use it to my advantage, especially whenever everyone is cheering my name and getting behind me.”
On the flip side, he is also good at using the adversity of the crowd. On Suzanne Lenglen yesterday, he struggled with his ball toss, which was booed by a raucous crowd every time it went awry. There was further adversity when he was bizarrely penalised by the umpire for a vocal hindrance, which seemed inaudible for those of us on court and resulted in him being broken in the second set and changing the momentum of the match.
Norrie branded the decision “absurd” but, while other players might have lost their cool, he barely let it rile him.
If all goes to plan, potentially lying in wait for him in the fourth round is tournament favourite Carlos Alcaraz, although Norrie has won two of the pair’s past three encounters, most recently in winning the Rio final on clay. “We’ll talk about that more if and when that comes,” he said. “But I love his game and the way he expresses himself on court. He’s amazing for tennis. His variety and drop shots have definitely made me reconsider the way I’m playing. I’ve already had a lot of battles with him.”
Having managed a solitary win following the five-set Paire marathon and with Alcaraz lying in wait, he is not getting carried away about his chances in the coming days.
But there is the belief he can go two steps further in the future whether here, at Wimbledon or in due course. “I’ve only made one Grand Slam semi-final and it’d be nice to win one for sure,” said Norrie. “I just have to keep pushing towards that.”