5 hours ago
2
Two days after his bruising five-set win over Nicolás Jarry and the Chilean’s subsequent criticisms of his frequent cheering, Cameron Norrie immediately made it clear that he would remain true to himself even in the face of one of the greatest young talents his sport has ever seen. After starting his day against Carlos Alcaraz with a positive hold in the opening game, Norrie punctuated that small win with a loud, booming cheer.
Although Norrie was angling for a tight tussle, the stratospheric quality presented by his legendary opponent across the net, Alcaraz, ensured that he did not stand a chance. Alcaraz completely laid waste to the last British player standing at Wimbledon with the force of his devastating, astonishingly complete game, effortlessly dismantling Norrie 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 to return to the Wimbledon semi-finals.
With every major tournament he plays, Alcaraz’s resume continues to grow. He has now extended his career-best winning streak to 23 victories and he will contest his eighth grand slam semi-final in just 18 career appearances. Among Spanish men, only Rafael Nadal has reached more grand slam semi-finals than the 22 year old. He stands two wins away from becoming the fifth man in history to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles.
For a player enjoying the best run of form in his career, Alcaraz has still been prone to occasional dips in form and concentration, but this was his most focused performance of the tournament so far. He completely overpowered and outplayed Norrie, an admirably consistent and disciplined player who simply does not have the firepower to match him in full flow. Norrie has made life difficult for Alcaraz in the past thanks to his durability and consistency, but their last match was two years ago. Today, Alcaraz is a completely different player at the grand slam tournaments, on grass and after years of maturation and growth.
Norrie did find some joy on the court. He held his own when he was able to force Alcaraz into lengthy, protracted rallies and he took control whenever his opponent missed a first serve, winning 67% of points behind Alcaraz’s second serve. But the world No 2 continues to make massive strides in what was once the most obvious weakness – his serve. He served spectacularly, particularly on the important points, 13 aces, landing 72% of first serves and winning 89% of points behind it.
After three unforgettable wins on No 1 Court, the significance of this occasion meant that Norrie had had to finally part with his favourite stadium in the world as Centre Court beckoned. He actually started well, immediately forcing a triple break point lead at 1-0 on his rival’s serve. But as Alcaraz gradually settled down, finding rhythm on his serve and range on his forehand, he feasted.
Almost every single point was dictated by Alcaraz’s racket and Norrie quickly suffocated under the relentless pressure imposed by the Spaniard. Shortly after Norrie double faulted on break point to cheaply hand over the first break; the floodgates opened up. He spent the first set admirably scrambling and chasing down every last ball, but he could only watch as the ball constantly flew by him.
Alcaraz backed up his immense serving performance by dominating with his forehand, effortlessly injecting pace into neutral rallies. With so little pressure from his opponent, he had time to do whatever he liked, mixing in drop shots and gliding to the net. Even when Norrie was successfully able to take control with his forehand and force him on to the baseline, it was so difficult for the Briton to put the ball past Alcaraz. He was everywhere, constantly flipping points from defence to attack with his supreme athleticism. After one hour, 39 minutes on-court, barely over half the length of Aryna Sabalenka’s nerve-racking triumph over Laura Siegemund just before, Alcaraz closed out an easy, efficient victory without issue.
For Norrie, there is no shame in this loss. He ended his tournament after another brilliant grand slam run that has further shown him that he is performing at a high level once again and is capable of re-establishing himself in the latter stages of the biggest tournaments on a regular basis. After falling as low as No 91 in the ATP rankings just in May, he will rise to No 43 next week. Norrie took his first stride forward with his run to the fourth round of the French Open last month and he has maintained his momentum on home soil with his favoured US hard court swing to come.
Perhaps even more importantly, Norrie’s outlook on his career has added even greater meaning to his career. At one of his lowest points in his career, when he was struggling to simply win matches, Norrie resolved to focus on enjoying every aspect of his time on the court. Rather than fixating on his results, he has come to view them as a bonus to the joy he finds from his daily hard work. Even in defeat, he has given himself plenty of enjoyment over the past few weeks on the grass courts of the All England Club.
