Cameron Norrie expressed his performance in the Australian Open second round play was “mentally terrible.”
In a match interrupted by rain, the 19th seed fought hard to defeat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri 3-6, 6-7(4), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4. In the opening two sets of his play, Norrie committed 24 of his 49 unforced errors, indicating that he occasionally found it difficult to establish any kind of rhythm. He didn’t give up a point in the final three sets, though, as he took advantage of his opponent’s errors to win the match.
Rain forced Norrie to forfeit the second set tiebreaker, which proved to be a godsend for the British player. As a result, the match was abandoned.
“I was mentally terrible and I was making excuses for myself,” he claimed in an on-court interview with Laura Robson of Eurosport.
However, he seized the racquet from me within the first hour and a half, which prevented me from playing. After a few weather delays, I managed to win the third set by lifting the ball.I knew I was going to win the match when I entered the arena for the fourth set because of the incredible audience. I played fairly well considering how I was feeling. However, he was a fantastic player and made things very challenging.
The 28-year-old has made it to the final 32 at Melbourne Park three times. Additionally, he has only ever won a Grand Match after dropping the opening two sets once in his career. He did so for the first time against Diego Schwartzman at the 2020 US Open.
In the following round, Norrie will face Casper Ruud, who also had a thrilling victory on Thursday. After nearly four hours of play, the Norweigan defeated home favourite Max Purcell 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(10/7).
“I believe his goal was to cause me as much anxiety as possible by attempting to rush, come to the net, and rip balls from the back. He’s very skilled at it. I have trouble finding any kind of rhythm. About Purcell, Ruud said.
“He provides excellent service. Although he is not the largest man, his arm and shoulder are incredibly swift. With the serve, he creates a lot of spin speed and errs. Despite the fact that he plays differently from other players, I think he’s a really good tennis player and a really tricky player. “I’m very happy with the win.”
Although Ruud now has a 3-0 head-to-head advantage over Norrie, their most recent meeting took place in 2022.
“To stay with him, I have to be at the top of my game,” Ruud remarked.
“I’ve faced him a few times previously and have defeated him. I’m aware of what has made me successful. He’ll attempt to get even by finding a means to defeat me.
“This one is going to be difficult.”
Alexander Zverev defeated qualifier Lukas Klein 7-5 3-6 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (10-7) to advance to the third round. Next up for him is Alex Michelson.
