Cam Norrie relishing added strain in bid to repeat Wimbledon cost

Jul 04, 2023 at 10:11 AM

The 27-year-old made the final 4 12 months in the past, taking a primary set off Novak Djokovic of their semi-final encounter earlier than ultimately being outplayed.

Norrie’s build-up has been slightly detached this time round however he’s assured of giving the British public one thing to cheer about.

“It was great to do that,” he mentioned of final yr, “but it’s made me hungrier and I want more and more.

“I didn’t gain from the rankings side of things at all [ranking points were annulled in response to the ban on Russian and Belarusian players]. But it felt good to get through to the second week.”

Norrie had appeared good in profitable his opening two matches on the French Open towards French opponents earlier than coming unstuck towards the Italian Lorenzo Musetti. He once more received twice at Queen’s earlier than dropping out to Sebastian Korda within the quarter-finals.

Last yr, regardless of being British No1 and seeded he got here into Wimbledon comparatively beneath the radar. This time, the highlight is much larger from a public and media perspective.

Of the elevated consideration, he mentioned: “It’s just what comes with it and it’s great to have that attention. I obviously want to be talking to other people about going deep in tournaments. It’s exactly what I need and where you want to be. I don’t want to be on the flipside of that.

“I think you have to embrace it, you have to enjoy that. I think last year I did a really good job of that, enjoying the matches, enjoying the media. I was loving every moment of it.”

Norrie begins his Wimbledon 2023 bid within the late match on No1 Court towards Tomas Machac, a participant ranked outdoors the world’s prime 100 making his debut at Wimbledon.

The Briton has described grass as his favorite floor and mentioned lacking out on a spot within the closing final yr would solely maintain him in good stead this yr.

He mentioned: “I dropped a little bit and he was all over me. He kept his level very high, mine dropped ever so slightly. You can learn a lot from matches like that and playing with him. He plays at such a high level. A lot of respect for him, especially on this surface. It was a good match to learn from for sure.”