Cameron Norrie has emerged as a British player with wit and ambition to go with his talent and says he might have to win the US Open sooner or later to afford a new home he plans to buy in Wimbledon.
If he were to deliver here this fortnight, there is the small matter of getting past Dusan Lajovic in the second round on Wednesday first, but the transplanted New Zealander of Scottish and Welsh parents does not lack for self-belief.
His four-set win against the Australian Jordan Thompson on day one was impressive for its quality and Norrie’s resilience, and he carries transparent brio into his match with the Serb, who is ranked 62 in the world and defeated the accomplished 24th seed Damir Dzumhur in four sets on Monday.
Norrie said of his next challenge, with confidence bordering on nonchalance: “I haven’t watched him that much, but he hits the ball well, like everyone else.”
As for settling in as a seconded British player, he added: “I’m looking to try to get a place in London so I’ll probably have to make the semis here. But that’s long term. Somewhere near the NTC. I like the Putney and Wimbledon area. I’m planning to base there in the long term. I like it there. I’m there for the best part of the summer when the weather’s good, so it’s perfect for me.”
Reminded that semi-final prizemoney of around £720,000 might not cover the cash purchase of anything substantial in that part of London, he said: “Yeah. Maybe win it for Putney or Wimbledon.”
And for Great Britain. With Kyle Edmund struggling in defeat by Paulo Lorenzi with an illness and Andy Murray still finding his legs in an encouraging victory against another Australian, James Duckworth, Norrie might be leading the line against Uzbekistan in the Davis Cup tie in Glasgow in just over two weeks.
For now, he is focusing on his game, which is solid, smart and suited to the Flushing Meadows hard courts.
“I’m really happy. It’s nice that one of my opponents at a grand slam didn’t retire! It’s my first actual proper win so it was nice. I played well. I lost concentration at some points but I enjoyed it. I just got better and better as the match went on, so I was proud of that.
“At the start I was pretty tired. I wasn’t ready for that. It was so humid. I think I went through nine or 10 shirts in the match. But I didn’t mind it. I dealt with it well. I felt physically great at the end. Hot conditions don’t bother me too much.”
As for Thompson, who beat Murray at Queen’s last year, he said: “He went away a little bit at the end. He was done. He checked out a little bit, which was great for me.”
There will be more eyeballs trained on Murray, of course, and the view is pleasing enough. He showed improved movement as his first match stretched to four sets, finishing with a terrific sprint to hunt down a drop shot in the final service game of a match that went past three hours.
He plays Fernando Verdasco for the 15th time on Wednesday but knows his 13 previous victories are not as relevant as they once might have been, given he is still working his way back after hip surgery in January.
“I felt a bit slow at the beginning,” he said. “The positive was that towards the end of the match I made some quite good moves. The second to last point of the match, I moved pretty quickly up to the drop volley. I also maintained my serving speeds throughout the match. So there was some good stuff, but I think I can get better.
“This was the first time I have played four sets in 14 months, so I have to wait and see how I pull up.”
Murray baulked when asked if tennis was becoming as physically “dangerous” as boxing, but revealed his rehabilitation away from tournaments takes him up to seven hours a day to complete.
“Last week when I was rehabbing after Cincinnati, I was in there for two and a half hours in the morning, and then an hour and a half in the pool in the afternoon. On top of that, there was treatment, which can be anywhere from two to three hours. Pretty intense.”
