Cameron Norrie reached his first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon after an epic and marathon five-set win against Belgium’s David Goffin on Court No1 on Tuesday evening.
The 26-year-old British No1 and ninth seed had to overcome a very shaky start before finally completing a 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory in three and a half hours.
That makes him the first British man to get to the last four at Wimbledon since Andy Murray in 2016, and only the fourth man from this country to do it in the Open era.
But more than anything it is a supreme personal achievement for Norrie, who has been something of a late bloomer with his steady surge up the rankings – as well as one of the more eclectic backgrounds in tennis.
The man who has been cycling in to Wimbledon from his Putney home to make sure he does not get clogged up in traffic was born in South Africa, raised in New Zealand, and university educated in Texas in the USA as well as furthering his tennis development in Roehampton.
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The match-up with the unseeded Goffin, 31, clearly represented a huge opportunity to grab a place in the semis, but the Belgian was extremely fast out of the blocks and the better player by far in the first set – and even after Norrie levelled he edged ahead once again.
But Norrie, who has worked incredibly hard on his fitness and his game in recent years, outlasted Goffin in the last two sets and could barely celebrate on court, so shattered was he, and also overcome with the emotion of his finest moment coming at his home event, with all his family – on an extended trip from New Zealand – and friends there to see it.
And what a prize for his efforts – a semi-final against red-hot title favourite Novak Djokovic, the Serbian who is going for a seventh Wimbledon singles title, a fourth in a row, and a 21st in total at all the slams that would bring him within one of record-holder Rafael Nadal.
📢 Listen to that crowd. It's a dream come true for @cam_norrie at Wimbledon
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Norrie, who got the incredible home support he had asked for and wants it to be 'Norrie Nation' again later this week, said: “Honestly I am almost speechless. I am so happy to get through, with such a great team, family and friends here to see it.
“It wasn’t going my way from the start, I wasn’t feeling good and feeling the ball and all credit to David for that. He was moving me and playing really well. I couldn’t find my game, and then thanks to the crowd for getting behind me I managed to stay as patient as I could. It was all just adrenaline, using my legs and putting the ball in the court. It was great to get over the line.
“Definitely this is one of those moments where you think it is worth all the hard work. Winning a match like this…I’m in shock really, but you do get flashbacks of all the work you have done, the pre-seasons and the sacrifices I have had to make. It has paid off, and it feels pretty good.
“It only gets tougher – but I will come out in the semi-final and take it to Novak and hopefully the crowd can get behind me again, I’m sure they will. I am really looking forward to that, so I can’t enjoy this too much now and I’ll ready for Novak in a couple of days.”
Meanwhile Nick Kyrgios will appear in court back home in Australia in August having been charged with assault over an alleged incident involving ex-girlfriend Chiara Passari.
The 27-year-old will play Chile’s Cristian Garin in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Wednesday looking to reach the semi-finals of a grand slam for the first time.
Barrister Jason Moffett, from Key Chambers, confirmed he had been briefed in the matter and his client was aware of the charge.
It is understood the charge relates to an alleged incident in December last year, when Kyrgios is accused of grabbing his former partner.
“It's in the context of a domestic relationship,” Moffett told The Canberra Times. “The nature of the allegation is serious, and Mr Kyrgios takes the allegation very seriously. Given the matter is before the court ... he doesn't have a comment at this stage, but in the fullness of time we'll issue a media release.”
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