Cameron Norrie has had two long days to think about exactly what he can do to get under Novak Djokovic’s skin in the biggest match of his life, the Wimbledon semi-finals on Center Court. For many contenders over the years, this would be enough time to think it all over, understand the significance of the event, and immediately go down in flames.
But Norrie, 26, rose to the challenge from the start. He started with high intensity and energy, imposing on the six-time champion and begging him to continue as he built an early lead.
In the end, he was simply beaten by a significantly better tennis player. After a shaky start and trailing by a set, Djokovic gradually wore down Norrie before comfortably outplaying him to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
With his victory, Djokovic resumed his history after his first two Grand Slams were marred by his deportation from Australia and then the misfortune of seeing off Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals of the French Open. He has now reached his eighth career Wimbledon final, which puts him second on the men’s all-time list behind only Roger Federer’s 12.
While now in his 32nd Grand Slam final, a new all-time record for men, Djokovic is one win away from becoming only the second player, also after Federer, to achieve what seemed like an unattainable record for men two decades ago: Pete Sampras’ seven Wimbledon titles.
Novak Djokovic struggled in the first set. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
When his achievements were mentioned in his on-court interview, Djokovic soaked up the applause and then shrugged: “Thank you very much, I appreciate it, but the job is not done.”
Ahead of Djokovic, the top seed, and his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, is unseeded Australian Nick Kyrgios, who reached his first Grand Slam final on Thursday after Nadal, the second seed, was forced to withdraw ahead of Friday’s scheduled match because of an abdominal injury. It will be a huge occasion.
For Norrie, having spent much of the last 18 months rising up the ranks and establishing himself at the top of the game while still under the radar, his big strides often coming at events far from the public eye, this was his moment. On Wimbledon’s biggest stage, against one of the sport’s superstars, he gave himself the opportunity to show his capabilities. The crowd was accordingly packed with people to see it and be seen to watch it, from Sir Alex Ferguson to Wayne Rooney.
On an oppressively hot day in London, Djokovic initially looked much more nervous, making mistakes as he struggled with Norrie’s flat, low-bouncing backhand. Norrie constantly tested his patience, drawing him into long forays and forcing errors as he broke serve three times in the set. As Norrie served out the first set, he hit two aces, including his hardest serve of the tournament at 127mph.
For all Norry’s positive energy, Djokovic was terrible in the first set. He then admitted the pressure he feels even after being in this position so many times. “Of course, I had a lot of semi-finals, but it’s never easy to walk on the court. You have a lot of pressure, expectations from yourself and of course from others.”
His improvements in the second set started with his serve as he navigated his first few service games well and then found more rhythm on his groundstrokes.
He began to put Norrie under pressure in his own service games and at 4-3 to Djokovic, after a poor serve, Norrie hit a long forehand on break point. As the momentum shifted, Djokovic forged ahead, reeling off five straight games to take an early break in the third set and saw it out with ease.
Cameron Norrie had no answer to the Serbian in the final sets. Photo: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian
As Djokovic’s relentless pressure continued into the fourth set, Norrie did not give up. He loudly encouraged himself, animating the crowd and chasing down to the last ball. But tasked with taking bigger risks than usual and playing far outside his own comfort zone, Norrie’s mistakes piled up and the huge gap between the 20-time Grand Slam champion and the debutant semi-finalist continued to grow until the end.
As Djokovic sealed his victory, he blew a kiss to a destructive fan in the audience, which led to boos from the crowd. The cheers returned as he heaped praise on his fallen opponent: “Cameron didn’t have much to lose, he was playing the tournament of his life,” Djokovic said. “He’s a great player and I respect him a lot.”
With Norrie’s breakthrough tournament coming to an end, this should be another pivotal moment in his career. He had arrived at Wimbledon in search of his first place in the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament, an outcome that had eluded him for some time. Presented with the opportunity to go much further, he handled all the pressure extremely well as the top-ranked British player at Wimbledon and demonstrated both the mental toughness and overall improvements in his game that have allowed him to flourish.
Nori established himself on the biggest stages in the sport and showed what he is capable of. The next challenge in his career is to ensure that this is not really the tournament of his life and to build a game that allows him to return to these stages again and again.
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