2 months ago
18
Back on his favourite court and back in round three. After knocking out 12th seed Frances Tiafoe, Cameron Norrie is back believing he can again go deep into Wimbledon's second week.
When the 29-year-old reached the semi-finals in 2022, three of his five wins came on No 1 Court. He also upset British No 1 Jack Draper on this lawn last year.
Norrie's love affair with the court continued on Wednesday, beating a top-20 player for the first time in eight visits to SW19. No wonder he asked to be kept off Centre Court for his third-round clash with Italian Mattia Bellucci.
'I would love to play on Court 1 again,' admitted the British No 3 after his 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 triumph over Tiafoe. 'I always play well on Court 1, so I would like to stay playing there. It's an amazing atmosphere. A little bit louder than Centre Court. It's so special. When I walked out, I got goosebumps. I was trying to take it all in and smile as much as I could — then I had to go to battle.'
And battle he did. After losing the first set against the American, the turning point came at 4-4 in the second, when Norrie was 0-40 down but managed to hold serve. He broke Tiafoe to take the set with a brilliant backhand down the line, clenching his fist and shouting 'Come on, let's go,' towards the crowd. From that moment, he didn't look back.
The world No 61 — once as high as eighth in the rankings — is only the sixth British player in the Open era to reach the third round here on four occasions. Asked if something similar to 2022 was in his sights, Norrie said: 'For sure, especially with the level I played. I can take a lot of confidence from that.'
Cameron Norrie reached the third round at Wimbledon after knocking out 12th seed Frances Tiafoe
Norrie beat a top-20 player for the first time in eight visits to SW19 and has asked to play on Court No 1 again
It was a disappointing day for fellow Brit Billy Harris, who squandered eight break points and two set points in a 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 defeat by Portuguese world No 37 Nuno Borges. 'I'm just gutted,' Harris said.
Arthur Fery's hopes of reaching the third round hung by a thread as his clash with Italian Luciano Darderi was suspended at 8.45pm due to bad light with the wildcard two sets down, 6-4, 6-3.
