By Kingsley Elliot Kaye
Cameron Norrie has become one of those players who wear down opponents, to the extent where they no longer know how to win a point and get gripped by a sense of anxiety which drives them to overdo it and miss shots they usually make.
His win over Carlos Alcaraz in Cincinnati has surely boosted his confidence that he can also beat players who are capable of overpowering him through stages of a match. The longer the match gets, the likelier he is to accomplish the feat. The two hour strategy, which he mentioned at Wimbledon in the quarterfinal against Goffin, now is his trademark.
“When I talked to Facu (Facundo Lugones, his coach) this morning about tactics I told him: look, I think it’s big we get it to two hours and make it as physical as we can, and then the match starts from there. I felt like I did my job. I got to two hours and then I was able to get it done pretty quickly after that. I was feeling better and better as the match went on. I was able to stay very calm, serve well. I think that was the difference today.” He said.
In his current form Norrie can lose either with a player who is even more enduring than he is, or with a player who can overpower him constantly. In the future Holger Rune may become one of these. Now he still lacks experience.
“Holger is pretty young and I have seen him cramp a few times in a couple points when it can be quite hot. It was, like, look I want to try and make it as physical as I can and make rallies longer to get to two hours. It just went two hours and he kind of dropped his intensity, and started playing too aggressive, in my opinion and was missing a lot.” Norrie commented.
Norrie’s fitness has often made the headlines. He can run 10 km in 36:45 10 km and 5 km in 17.20. Does he harbour greater ambitions?
“I would maybe like to after tennis. I haven’t really thought about it too much, but I’m a decent runner, so it would be nice to maybe do that when I’m done with tennis.”
But we will not have to wait too long, before seeing him in action.
“I actually lost in my Fantasy Football last year. I came last and I still owe a half marathon. I need to pick a good time to do that,” he revealed.
The match
Norrie Rune 75 64 61
Coming into the match the question was: has Rune a powerful and resistant enough battering ram to break open the door of Norrie’s fortress?
He had been quite close, in his two previous losses to Norrie, going down both times in three sets. Their last encounter was just a couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati.
And in the first 4 games Rune did prove he had the power. The hinges of the British fortress door creaked, with Norrie saving 4 break points in his first two service games, but did not budge. Instead Rune lost his serve in the second game.
Perhaps Rune’s winners were more spectacular, yet not as many as he needed to level the match.
Norrie never ceased varying direction and angles, length and pace. Often he chose to play towards the centre of the court, so as to make it difficult for Rune to open up angles. Unforced errors from the Dane were mounting up. At the end of the match they would be 43, not compensated by 36 winners.
Serving for the set something unexpectedly cracked in Norrie’s game. Two missed smashes, forehands falling short and a double fault let Rune back into the match.
Norrie was quick to find his bearings once more. He broke immediately and did not falter a second time, serving out the set to love.
In the very first game of the second set Rune faced break points. He saved four brilliantly, also winning a net clash that fired up the public, but by dint of insisting Norrie got the break. In spite of Rune restraining unforced errors, the gap widened to a two break lead.
Rune recovered one of the breaks, with Norrie’s forehand falling again a little too short and allowing Rune to pound on it. But in the 10th game, after saving still another break point with the typical lefthander serve out wide, the Brit put away the set with a well-placed flat backhand down the line.
When Norrie broke in the third game of the third set, suddenly also Rune’s body language revealed resignation, Norrie won the next four games and continues his clear and best ever run at the US Open: in the round of 16, yet to drop a set.
