Cameron Norrie: a modest new star in British tennis

What a year this is an indication of British tennis, said Mike Dickson Daily mail. Five weeks after Emma Raducanu’s New York victory, Cameron Norrie produced a “great new story of the unexpected” to become the first British tournament winner to be widely regarded as the “fifth Grand Slam” of tennis.

In the final of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the 26-year-old left-hander won 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 against world No. 36 against Nikoloz Basilashvili. Slow conditions in the California desert produced a fascinating match of “opposing styles,” said Tumaini Carayol. Caretaker. Norrie thrives in devastating rallies, but the Georgian is one of the game’s “most destructive shooters” – the only player on tour with an average of over 80 miles per hour on both wings. And in the first half of the match, his “substantial weapons” threatened to be decisive as he rewinded five consecutive games and took the first set before cutting off the second.

Still, the hallmarks of Norrie’s game this season – that his ranking has risen from 71 to the current 16 – have been his “patient determination and relentless athleticism,” Stuart Fraser said. Times. As the grip on the title weakened, both qualities emerged: always trying to prolong the rally and scramble tirelessly across the field, he began to draw mistakes from the Basilashvili racket. When he had broken back, and when the Georgian served 4-5, he then produced two stunning brightness points — one “lob and drop volley combination,” another stunning running backhand feed to “steal the set.” And in the final, Norrie was rarely worried about her visibly tiring opponent.

Norrie’s restraint in this match was all the more impressive given the footwear crisis he experienced as it piled up, said Simon Briggs. Daily Telegraph. An “unexpected echo” ten days ago from Andy Murray, who lost his tennis shoes – to which former British No. 1 had attached his wedding ring – revealed that all three Norrie pairs of shoes had mysteriously disappeared from the locker room, forcing him to find a last-minute replacement. “I don’t know what people have against the British by stealing shoes,” he joked afterwards.

Norrie’s win, for which he earned £ 880,000, confirms him as one of the most advanced players of the season, said Mike Dickson. With his ranking soaring, he aims to be one of eight players to feature at the ATP final in Turin at the end of next month. No one who knows this character a little below the radar, who approaches everything with the same attitude of “happy resilience,” can be “nothing but happy” about his success.