Cameron Norrie has spent much of his career enjoying the extremely physical, defensive-based style of play that has driven his career; the ability to pulverize any player on any given day. This has clearly served the 28-year-old well and has propelled him into the top 10 and among the best players in the world.
But at Melbourne Park this week Norrie showed more. He played freely, took more risks for himself and embraced diversity in his game. On Monday evening, Norrie showed all of these dimensions on full display as he faced one of the best players in the world and fought all the way to the end in a spectacular contest before losing 7-5, 3-6, 3-6. He faced Alexander Zverev 6-3, 4-6 7-6 (3) in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
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It marked the end of a great tournament for Norrie as he stepped into the second week at Melbourne Park for the first time in his career. Most importantly, he did this by playing more freely and proactively than ever before, both executing his attack and showing his diversity.
In the middle of the contest, a protester supporting the Palestinian people threw leaflets onto the field, briefly interrupting the game. The brochures read “WAR CRIMES AND GENOCIDE” and “FREE PALESTINE”. Protesters were removed from the hall by other spectators.
For the second time in as many matches, Norrie took to the field in an extremely tough encounter against a player who had an unbeaten record against him. He had lost all four ATP matches against Zverev in straight sets, after producing one of the best performances of his career in the third round to defeat Zverev, the 11th seed Casper Ruud, who had won the previous three matches and all but one match.
Norrie opened the match serving extremely well and was looking to get inside the baseline and control the exchanges. Both players completed the set without a break, handling their service games with ease. But against such an imperious server, the holding pressure only increases throughout the set and it only takes one bad service game to fall behind. At 5-5, it only took a few simple mistakes for Zverev to pounce and make the decisive break.
In the second set, Zverev seemed to have full control as he broke serve and took the lead 3-2. But Norrie immediately stepped in and responded with a superb comeback play. After taking the break, Norrie went through the rest of the set on the front foot; He delivered a great serve, sending his forehand down the line and targeting Zverev’s faltering forehand.
Zverev’s response came quickly in the third set. He easily dominated the service games and re-established his service dominance and made Norrie pay for his poor service game as he took the third set.
Norrie showed his tenacity under intense pressure. He played some of his best tennis throughout the fourth set. He stepped back into the baseline and dictated the baseline changes. Alongside his aggression, Norrie continued to show more creativity on the pitch, executing precise drop shots and authoritative moves towards goal. After playing her own service games throughout the set, Norrie jumped to 5-4 and closed the set with a perfect drop volley winner.
At the start of the deciding set, Zverev took the initiative by immediately breaking serve, and Norrie quickly pulled him back to take the break back. Whenever Zverev pressed, Norrie responded. He first stopped Zverev in a superb game at 3-3, saving three break points with relentless aggression before stopping serve. Then trailing 0-30 at 5-5, Norrie pulled himself back from the brink on his own terms and forced an emphatic tiebreak.
Having found such great balance in his attack for most of the match, Norrie’s level dropped in the tiebreak. He started to overdo the dropped shots, missing two in a row, then double-faulting Norrie to go 2-5 down. Zverev, who faced such a great opportunity at an important point, won the match by passing the tiebreak with all his experience.
Shortly afterwards, Norrie left the Margeret Court Arena to a standing ovation. After finishing last season feeling depleted, Norrie had made a positive start to the year before an ankle injury suffered on the eve of the Australian Open jeopardized his progress. Despite these problems, Norrie found his form in the early rounds and has since played some of the best tennis of his life. In the process, he positioned himself for a great season.
Zverev, meanwhile, continues to win while under serious scrutiny after the Berlin criminal courts announced before the first round match that the German would face a public trial for physically abusing his ex-girlfriend Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his child. Zverev denies the accusations.