Cameron Norrie said his spectacular run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals, where he will face the defending champion, Carlos Alcaraz, has been made even more satisfying by his recent struggles with form and injury, which led to him falling down the rankings.
Norrie, the last British singles player standing, held his nerve to defeat Nicolás Jarry 6-3, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (7), 6-7 (5), 6-3 in an epic four-hour 27-minute battle to reach his second quarter-final at the All England Club. The left-hander had held a match point on his serve at 6-5 in the third set tie-break before Jarry turned the match around with his enormous serve, eventually forcing a five-set shootout.
“It feels a little bit better and more deserved coming back from the injury and kind of coming back and trying to push back into the top of the game,” said Norrie. “So all the hard work, it’s paid off. I’ve been a dedicated professional and have a good team around me. These moments are the icing on the cake.”
Having climbed as high as No 8 in the world rankings in 2022, Norrie, 30 next month, suffered a significant biceps injury last year and he has generally struggled with his form. In May he fell to No 91 in the rankings. Against Jarry, a qualifier, he maintained his composure as the Chilean fired down 46 aces. Norrie held each of his 25 service games, saving all eight break points in the match.
“I didn’t want to let his game style kind of get me frustrated,” said Norrie. “When he’s serving lots of aces and nothing is happening in the match, and then suddenly he’s playing some really good points. So I wanted to stay fired up and really enjoy all aspects of the match.
“If it’s a cheap point, I was enjoying it. If it was a long rally, I was enjoying it. If I had a forehand winner, I was enjoying it. And I wanted to keep that energy high. He served 46 aces in the match, and I didn’t want to let that bother me.”
Norrie will next face Alcaraz after the Spaniard defeated the 14th seed Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. “Now it only gets tougher,” said Norrie.
