When this quarter-final was definitively wrapped up after only 1hr 39min, the noise on Centre Court was a subdued mixture of applause and the odd whoop. The applause was polite, acknowledging a sporting contest had taken place, even if it had not been competitive. The whoops were a little performative. Britain’s last remaining singles hope at these Championships, Cameron Norrie, had been outclassed by a purring Carlos Alcaraz 6-2, 6-3, 6-3.
Alcaraz, the reigning men’s champion, had whipped through the match, whipped forehand winner after forehand winner, and whipped his opponent into meek submission. It had been so tough for Norrie that he had felt the need to fist-pump simply for holding points on his serve. This is where the whoops came in; the crowd’s own attempt to find encouragement where it could.
Quarter-finals with a British interest are far from a given at Wimbledon. The decade between 2008 and 2017, when Andy Murray never went home before the final eight, is a glaring anomaly in the men’s game. Equally exceptional were the successes of Virginia Wade in the 1970s. This was only the fifth quarter-final to feature a home competitor in the past decade and the unspectacular Norrie, born in South Africa and raised in New Zealand, is not someone who can easily be described as a fan favourite.
So it was a big match, but not as big as it could have been and this perhaps was reflected around the showpiece court. Half empty as the match got under way, albeit with British theatrical titans Sir Ian McKellen, Mark Rylance and Richard E Grant in their seats throughout, the ground filled up but the atmosphere never took off. Were the crowd cheering for an underdog victory, or applauding the effort of an emerging titan of the modern game? In the end it was a bit of both and neither.
A raucous home crowd would probably have had no effect on the outcome of the match, unless it was to inspire Alcaraz to higher levels than those he deemed necessary to win. Even in the first game of the match, in which Norrie valiantly held serve, the No 2 seed pummelled the Briton with power and placement. One of Norrie’s key strengths are on the defensive, with a tigerish ability to chase down angles and take the speed out of dangerous play. But it was clear from the off that these tools, effective in the tournament to this point and in his run to the semi-finals in 2022, were not going to work here.
Alcaraz was typically considerate in his post-match remarks on court, declaring Norrie a “really difficult” opponent. “I am really happy,” the 22-year-old said. “To be able to play another semi-final here at Wimbledon is really special. I want to go as far as I can and I am really happy with the level I played today against a really difficult player like Cam. He is an amazing guy. No one works harder than him and it is nice to see him fighting for great things.”
Alcaraz was right, there was no doubting Norrie’s work ethic, at least in the first two sets when the writing was only being daubed on the wall. But the limits of his ability against the top players was clear. This was more like a British Wimbledon encounter in the years pre-Murray, such was the imbalance on court, but this is 2025 and expectations have long been revised upwards. Jack Draper, the British No 1 and another player to have exited meekly from the tournament this year, wondered out loud “How did Andy Murray do it?” after his second-round defeat. This question will surely come into sharper focus by the time the Championship comes around next year.
On the other hand, at least everyone got to see Alcaraz. The Spaniard does not yet have his supporter army, like the omnipresent and slightly unsettling Nole-fam that stand foursquare behind the 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic. But the 22-year-old does have the game to win the hearts of neutrals. Yes he has the 135mph aces, and the bludgeoning strokes from the back of the court that are the prerequisites for success in the hard-court age. But his love of the drop shot is something that is shared by Wimbledon aficionados too, and he also found time for some exquisite lobs in the few moments Norrie could be tempted to the net. His roar of celebration upon victory seemed pretty genuine too, and this crowd loves a fighter.
Norrie will now try to take the momentum he has generated and turn it into a run at the US Open later this summer. For Alcaraz, it’s the American Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals and the ongoing shot at a threepeat. That match is scheduled for Friday, and in between Alcaraz plans to take in some sights. “I will make the most of the time with my team and family in London,” he said, further endearing himself to the crowd. “I might try to go to the city centre if I have time. What I have been doing so far has worked so we will try to switch off together.”
