Norrie interview: ‘Alcaraz made me reconsider the way I play tennis’
J
ack Draper at present finds himself having his broken shoulder assessed whereas Dan Evans has already moved his consideration on to the grasscourt season, as Andy Murray already had in foregoing the French Open.
That leaves British curiosity at Roland Garros right down to only one in both singles.
For a time yesterday, it regarded like Cameron Norrie could be packing his baggage and heading house earlier than recovering from a controversial umpire name and a break down within the deciding set to edge France’s Benoit Paire amid a fervent crowd.
The same reception awaits tomorrow with one other French opponent in Lucas Pouille, who carried out the group in a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise following his first-round win.
French Open | Roland Garros 2023
Despite two of Norrie’s 5 ATP titles approaching clay, the 27-year-old has by no means made it past the third spherical of the French Open however believes 2023 may very well be totally different.
He stated: “I think 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 on the grand slams till final yr’s Wimbledon the place he was a shock semi-finalist earlier than shedding to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.
The Wimbledon expertise has solely given him the starvation for extra at tennis’ 4 majors.
“I feel like I just want to have more of it and have those deeper runs at the slams,” he stated. “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 distinction in Paris to his Wimbledon expertise is that it’s with out the goldfish nature of being the main British grand slam participant as at SW19. A yr in the past, his each transfer was pored over from him biking in to his girlfriend watching from the gamers’ field.
“At Wimbledon, there’s a lot more eyes on me,” he stated. “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 facet, he’s additionally good at utilizing the adversity of the group. On Suzanne Lenglen yesterday, he struggled along with his ball toss, which was booed by a raucous crowd each time it went awry.
And there was additional adversity when he was bizarrely penalised by the umpire for a vocal hindrance, which appeared inaudible for these of us on courtroom and resulted in him being damaged within the second set and altering the second of the match.
Norrie branded the choice “unacceptable” and “absurd” however, whereas different gamers might need misplaced their cool, he barely let it rile him.
If all goes to plan, doubtlessly mendacity in anticipate him within the fourth spherical is match favorite Carlos Alcaraz, though Norrie has gained two of the pair’s final three encounters, most not too long ago in profitable the Rio ultimate on clay.
“We’ll talk about that more if and when that comes,” he stated, “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 even though it’s early on in his career.”
Having managed a solitary win following the five-set Paire marathon and with Alcaraz mendacity in wait, he isn’t getting carried away about his possibilities within the coming days.
But there may be the idea he can go two steps additional sooner or later whether or not right here, Wimbledon or in the end. “I’ve only made one grand slam semi-final and it’d be nice to win one for sure,” he stated. “I just have to keep pushing towards that.”