CAM Norrie has more claim than anyone else to be called Scotland’s No.1 singles player at this year’s Wimbledon. Having come so close to cutting last year’s SW19 finalist Kevin Anderson down to size at Queen’s Club, the kilted kiwi with the Glaswegian dad hopes to stand tall to rack up his maiden All England Club win against Denis Istomin. It is a match-up which the Glasgow public were denied when Great Britain took on Uzbekistan at the Emirates Arena last September.
The 23-year-old, in the main draw as of right on his third visit here by dint of his world ranking of 55, has shown further glimpses of his promise during this grass-court season, not least when being just points away from the biggest win of his career against the 6ft 7in South African at the recent Fever-Tree Championships, eventually going down 6-4, 6-7(5), 4-6.
“There was nothing in that match against Anderson at all,” said Norrie. “So I think that does give me a lot of confidence, to be right there with one of the best grass-court players in the world. He barely missed a first serve in tie break and was serving unreal in the third set so I was only a couple of points away. It was definitely a good performance from me and to beat [Jeremy] Chardy [at Eastbourne] was great too, because he made semis at Queen’s last year and has always been good on the grass.
“I was supposed to be playing him [Istomin] in Glasgow at the Davis Cup but he switched out at the last minute. So I guess this is an alternative home tie for me. It is going to be a good one for sure, I am going to go out there and compete as hard as I can.”
Temperatures are forecast in the mid-20s for the first week of Wimbledon and Norrie, born in Johannesburg but raised in Auckland then developed in the college system in Texas, likes it hot. “I prefer the hot conditions,” he said. “Is it because I was born in Johannesburg? Maybe a little bit. I don’t know why, I just think it feels like a bit more of a battle, you can get into the match a bit more, make it physical. I have a good engine in me, pretty decent endurance. I won’t be monitoring the weather forecast too much but I hope it stays boiling just like this.”
Nothing seems quite as new for Norrie at this venue as it once did. “Everything is a little bit more normal for me here now,” he said. “I have got some experience under my belt. It would be nice to win a match here, that would be a nice first for me. It is definitely the biggest tournament of the year for me. I am grateful to be in under my ranking. The sun is shining, I’m at Wimbledon, there isn’t really too much to be complaining about.”
Norrie downplayed the minor storm he caused in the lead-up to the tournament when criticising the late timing of the wild-card announcements, although to be fair he probably had a point. “I made a bit of a mistake – I didn’t really think about it too much,” he said. “I didn’t know there was that much tradition to that date, that they announced the wild cards that day every year. But I am entitled to my opinion. I think a couple of them could have been announced a little earlier but I don’t think it is a big deal at all and I didn’t mean any offence to the club or anything. I think it is the best tournament in the world and I feel grateful to be playing here.”
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