Cameron Norrie has eased concerns surrounding his current fitness with a comprehensive first round win at the Australian Open.
The British No.1 eased to a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2, win over Juan Pablo Varillas who is currently ranked 81st in the world. It is the third time he has reached the second round of the tournament where he is making his sixth main draw appearance. Norrie produced a total of 30 winners and broke his opponent five times.
“I think I did the basics well today, especially managing my service games well and I think that was the difference in the match.” He said.
“It was not easy to play at all. It was really quick conditions, and the court was moving around quite a lot with the wind.’
“But I’m happy to be through.”
Coming into the Grand Slam there had been concerns over Norrie’s health after he pulled out of the ASB Classic in Auckland. He reached the quarter-finals of that tournament before having to withdraw due to a wrist injury which he has been managing in recent days.
“It was not ideal but I was lucky enough to play on Tuesday, so I had a few more days to get ready.” He said.
“I was lucky enough to be able to manage the practice and give myself the best chance to be ready to compete and was able to still do a lot of movement and a lot of fitness before, so it was good.”
Wrist injuries have become a more frequent issue in the sport over recent months which some are blaming on the decision to use different kinds of balls at various tournaments. Balls can vary in impact with some heavier to hit than others. So one week a player can be getting used to hitting a lighter ball and then the following week they are hitting with a heavier one which creates more of an impact on their joints.
However, Norrie says he is unable to link his recent injury to the issue but would like to see there be more consistency on the Tour.
“I don’t know what it came down to but I think the players are having to adapt always to the balls, and I think there’s a lot of discussions around that,” Norrie commented.
“It would be nice to see the ball speed the same for each kind of swing. I think the players have been pretty vocal about that.”
Norrie will next play Giulio Zeppieri.
