When Wimbledon gets underway, it’ll be a special occasion for Cam Norrie. The 26-year-old will head into the tournament as Britain’s number one ranked player for the first time. For the early part of his career, Norrie existed in the shadow of Andy Murray, but with the Scot’s injury problems taking him away from the top of the game, the time has come for Norrie to step into the limelight.
Norrie broke into the world top ten earlier in the year, and he’s managed to find a level of consistency to his game that he struggled with earlier in his career. However, Norrie has a concerning track record in Grand Slam tournaments. The Brit has never got past the third round of a Slam, and into the second week, but that’s something he’ll be desperate to put behind him and punters who see the home favourite as a smart pick will be looking for the best betting exchange to back him.
The highlight of Norrie’s career to date came last year, when he came back from a set down to defeat Nikoloz Basilashvili in the final of Indian Wells. It was the first time he’d won an ATP Masters 1000 event. He’s featured in 10 ATP finals in total, losing both ATP 500 finals that he featured in, while winning three of the seven ATP 250 finals he’s reached. Since July 2021, Norrie has reached six finals, winning four of them.
In February this year, Norrie won the Delray Beach Open, beating Reilly Opelka in the final, before losing the Mexican Open final to Rafael Nadal in the same month. In May, he won the Lyon Open, beating Alex Molčan in the process.
He’s certainly found a new level over the last year, with nine of his 10 ATP finals coming since May 2021. Norrie has shown himself to be far more comfortable in key moments over the last year, and he’ll be hoping that comes in handy at Wimbledon.
“I think it’s just putting myself in that situation time and time again,” he said. “Being better than the other guy in the bigger moments. That’s what tennis comes down to.”
With Andy Murray unlikely to relive his past successes, and Emma Raducanu struggling to find full fitness, Norrie will hope to be the hero for the famous Wimbledon crowd. 2021 was the first year where he won more matches on grass than he lost. His grass season saw him reach the final of Queen’s, before being eliminated from the third round of Wimbledon by Roger Federer.
His 69% win percentage last year showed his consistency over the course of the season, and his win percentage for 2022 is in the mid 60s. With Norrie finally showing consistency in his game, and having improved significantly over the last two years, he can head into the Slam full of confidence.
However, Norrie is still something of an unknown quantity to the British sporting public. A strong performance at Wimbledon, seeing him through to the second week of the tournament, would be a great opportunity for him to announce his arrival at the top of the game, right on his home turf.
For more updates on celebrity news and entertainments make sure to follow iLuminaryWorth.
