Norrie turns to king of Queen’s for lowdown on rival
CAM NORRIE will seek out Andy Murray’s advice to help him become only the second British tennis player to win Queen’s since the Second World War after stunning second seed Denis Shapovalov in a clinical straight sets semi-final victory.
Murray, the five times champion, was beaten earlier in the week by Norrie’s final opponent, Matteo Berrettini, the man who stands between him and the greatest day of the British No 2’s career.
An added bonus for Norrie, win or lose the final against the No 1 seed, will be a careerhigh world ranking in the low 30s and a seeding at Wimbledon for the first time.
Victory today will also land him a first ATP title in his third final in seven weeks.
The British No 2 is having the year of his tennis playing life and a debut title on grass, after his 7-5, 6-3 victory over his highlyrated Canadian opponent, will make him a force to be feared at Wimbledon too.
Norrie, 25, revealed afterwards he will seek out some advice from Murray and the country’s No 1 Dan Evans after both were defeated by Berrettini on the Italian’s route to the final.
Bursting with pride and emotion in front of a loud west London crowd, he admitted: ‘It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I played very, very good tennis.
‘I am so pleased to be through to the final here. I cannot even describe it. Literally it’s nice to get over the line there. All credit to Denis, it was a tough match.
‘The crowd definitely helped me towards the end there and helped get me over the line on another gloomy night here in London.’
Big-serving Berrettini will represent another step up and Norrie admitted it will not be easy to follow in the footsteps of former champion Murray.
I have watched him a little bit throughout the week,’ he said.
‘He has a huge serve. He is one of the best players on the tour at the moment. A good forehand, likes a drop shot. Maybe I will have a chat to Evo (Evans) and Andy to see if they have any tips for me.
‘I saw him play earlier and he had a really good day, so it is not going to be easy.’
Norrie, born in South Africa to a Scottish father and Welsh mother, did not instantly look at home in this match.
He lost his serve in the opening game, but crucially broke back to level at 3-3 and then take the first set with a two-handed backhand that sent his opponent slipping despairingly flat on his face into the grass.
Shapovalov, who was infamously disqualified in a Davis Cup tie against Great Britain for striking an umpire with a ball four years ago, called a brief halt to receive medical treatment on an apparent leg muscle injury at the start of the second set.
The animated 22-year-old has an extremely physical game and had to withdraw from the recent French Open with a shoulder problem. But he played on without any obvious discomfort until Norrie broke him again with another blistering backhand down the line to lead 5-3 and then serve for the match. Only Novak Djokovic and Andrey Rublev had won more AT P tour matches this year than Norrie coming into Queen’s, so no wonder he looked assured as he completed his victory in just over 93 minutes. Heather Watson, meanwhile, missed out on becoming the first British player to reach the final of the Birmingham Classic when she suffered a semi-final defeat against Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur. The tournament’s second seed proved too strong for the British No 2 in a straight sets 6-3, 6-3 win, on the Edgbaston Priory grass. It was Watson’s second match of the day after she had scored an impressive quarter-final win against Croatia’s Donna Vekic earlier on.
The 29-year-old said: ‘It was small margins. I served really well in my first match, but not as well in the afternoon. But it has been a good week and I will take the positives into Eastbourne next week.’
The last British semifinalist at Edgbaston was Jo Durie in 1992. Defeat was no shame for Watson against an opponent who is ranked 139 places above her in the world at a career-high 24.