Hero Norrie so close to the miracle of Marbella
WiTh Kyle Edmund in waiting, set to be unleashed for a potential deciding fifth rubber, there were times yesterday when it looked like the miracle of Marbella might become reality.
At 4-4 in the third-set tie-break, Cameron norrie was within a few points of stealing the advantage against world no21 Albert Ramos Vinolas. Spanish knees were knocking like castanets.
With a little more composure, the 22-year-old clay-court rookie might have done it, but he snatched at a couple of balls, lost it 7-4, and his five-set heroics of Friday caught up with him in the fourth.
he ended up losing 7-6, 2-6, 7-6, 6-2, consigning great Britain to a 3-1 defeat against Spain. After three hours and 44 minutes of gripping drama, no dead rubber was deemed necessary, sparing everyone the chilly Costa del Sol weather they rarely tell you about in holiday brochures.
it was not meant to be this way for the Spanish on their beloved clay against an underpowered gB team shorn of Andy Murray and, on Friday, Edmund.
That it turned out to be three days of drama and tension was mostly down to norrie, and the uncanny ability of captain Leon Smith to drag unexpected performances from his players.
Smith never played professionally but his opposite number for Spain, Sergi Bruguera, is one of the all-time great clay-courters, twice a French open champion.
Bruguera admitted he was astonished at norrie’s performance on his Davis Cup debut, and in his first professional matches on the brown dirt.
‘i was surprised in many ways because i thought his one game would be hard court,’ said the Spaniard. ‘i was very surprised about his level and the way he moves on clay, he moves excellent.
‘The way he handled the matches was unbelievable. he looks a very strong player and he should be proud of his performance. he’s much better than a ranking of 114.’
norrie, largely raised in new Zealand by Scottish and Welsh parents, was aided by his experience of playing team tennis in the American college system, and having an Argentinian coach in Facundo Lugones, who knows the clay.
‘i think it helped me a lot being in college, there was a big atmosphere in the matches. in the Conference i played in, people could shout during the point, so i was kind of used to it,’ said norrie, who now heads to play the new York open in America and is already considering scheduling some additional clay-court tournaments.
‘i like playing on the big stage and i was feeding off the crowd a lot. My goal for this week was to become a better tennis player and just enjoy the tennis. it was a ridiculous experience playing on clay against Spain away and i think this weekend has changed my perspective on a lot of things. it has told me i can play at this level with these guys.
‘They’re great players, but they’re nothing special. obviously, i was a little bit fatigued after my first five-set match on Friday and, in the fourth today, i was a little bit tired but i thought i could win and didn’t stop fighting.’
Britain now face a World group relegation play-off in September, but a year that started with doubts over Murray’s future has turned out better than expected so far for British tennis.
Murray plumped for a hip operation that went relatively well and he hopes to be back by the grass-court season at the latest.
Edmund made startling progress to the Australian open semi-finals, and it now seems that another player has been unearthed who should move deep inside the top 100 in the world.
Liam Broady also showed potential this weekend, and Smith had reason to be pleased.
‘A lot of people would have thought Friday was a one-off, but it certainly isn’t,’ he said. ‘Cam showed brilliant quality again today. i can’t wait to see what is possible with these guys.’
norrie was a revelation this weekend and yesterday, against another high-class clay-court opponent of metronomic efficiency, he showed what a smart and resourceful player he is, patiently trading strokes before pulling the trigger.
if only his level had not dropped in the crucial passage when he had Ramos Vinolas in a state of near panic after winning five straight games in the second set. Still, this weekend was meant to be a massacre, but it turned out to be far more uplifting than that.