Cameron Norrie is out of the Australian Open, thus extinguishing the final Brit remaining.
However, for the 30-year-old, this marked yet another milestone run, despite being defeated in the third round.
Alas, it’s not how far he went, but who he lost to that is of more importance, having been dumped out of the event by the third seed and last year’s finalist, Alexander Zverev.
This marked the fourth straight major event where he has been defeated by an elite-level player, with Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic the only other two to have beaten him in his last four Grand Slam appearances.
Cam Norrie was asked about this phenomenon straight after his most recent loss to Zverev.
Cameron Norrie reacts to losing to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open
Naturally, he was disappointed by the result despite taking the match to four competitive sets.
However, he saw positives not only in his play today, but again in the manner of his exit, at the hands of an opponent near the top of the world rankings.
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He began by telling the Australian Open press: “Yeah, we were talking with my coach Facu this week before every match, like, look at the guys you lost to in the other slams, and they’re all top players, and you’ve had battles with every one, but you managed to get through.
“I think it says a lot about my focus. I think that’s what I can take so much confidence from is regardless of how you’re playing, you know, some days you’re not going to be hitting the ball as well, other days better and some shots better than others.
“I think mentally I’ve been able to bring just points in, points out, such a tough level against all types of opponents to go not so deep in all of them, but at least I think third round in the last few.
“Yeah, I think that’s great, and I think it says why I’m a bit more experienced than some of the other guys. I’m in best-of-five-set matches, and yeah, it’s good fun playing these tournaments and nice to come here feeling healthy and enjoying.
“Still disappointed not to go further, but these are the matches you want to be playing.”
Zverev reserved big praise for Norrie after their match too, further emphasising his progression as a player despite being 30 years old.
Cam Norrie rates his own performance vs Alexander Zverev
Norrie was not too downhearted despite his defeat, and took time to praise himself for sticking with a player of Zverev’s quality for so long.
Asked about his performance, the former British number one claimed: “Yeah, I thought the level was really good from the match. First three sets, very good. I was maybe a slight dip in that third set, but yeah, it was kind of constant pressure I thought in all departments of the game.
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“You know, he was serving well, returning well, forehand, backhand moving, and I had to really take a lot of risks to hang with him. And I think I can take a lot of confidence knowing I can play at that level with him, but I dropped off the beginning of the fourth, for sure.”
Norrie served superbly and conjured up five break points, converting two of them during the match.
In the end, Zverev just had too much for him, but on another day, he could certainly have come close to winning a match like this.
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