Cameron Norrie has spent so much of his career relishing the overly physical, defence-based playing style that has driven him; his ability to grind any given player on any day to dust. It has clearly served the 28-year-old extremely well, catapulting him inside the top 10 and amongst the best players in the world.
But this week in Melbourne Park, Norrie has shown something more. He has played with freedom, allowing himself more risk and embracing the variety in his game. On Monday evening, Norrie demonstrated all of those dimensions in full as he went toe-to-toe with one of the best players in the world and fought until the end in a brilliant contest before he was defeated 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 4-6 7-6 (3) by the sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
The four hour, five minute battle marked the end of a brilliant tournament for Norrie, the 19th seed, in his first foray to the second week at Melbourne Park for the first time in his career. Most notably, he did so by playing more freely and proactively than ever, both committing to his offense and showing his variety.
Midway through the contest, a protester in support of Palestinian people briefly interrupted play by throwing leaflets onto the court. The leaflets read “WAR CRIMES AND GENOCIDE” and “FREE PALESTINE”. The protestor was removed from the court by other spectators.
For the second time in as many matches, Norrie stepped onto the court for an extremely difficult match-up against a player with an unbeaten record against him. After producing one of the best performances of his career in the third round to defeat the 11th seed Casper Ruud, who had won all three previous meetings and all but one set, against Zverev he had conceded all four of their ATP matches in straight sets.
Norrie opened the match serving extremely well and looking to step inside the baseline and control the exchanges. As he took care of his service games with ease, both players rolled through the set without breaks. But against such an imperious server, the pressure to hold only builds throughout the set and it takes just one poor service game to fall behind. At 5-5, just a couple of loose errors were enough for Zverev to pounce and take the decisive break.
As Zverev broke serve to lead 3-2 in the second set, it seemed that he had taken full control. But Norrie immediately dug in and responded with an excellent return game. After retrieving the break, Norrie flitted through the remainder of the set on the front foot; he served brilliantly, he laid into his forehand down-the-line and he targeted Zverev’s faltering forehand.
Zverev’s response came quickly in the third set. He re-established his dominance on serve, tearing through his service games with ease, and he made Norrie pay for one poor service game as he took the third set.
Under immense pressure, Norrie demonstrated his tenacity. Throughout the fourth set, he played some of his best tennis. He again stepped inside the baseline and dictated the baseline exchanges. Alongside his aggression, Norrie continued to show more creativity on the court, mixing in delicate drop shots and authoritative forays to the net. After racing through his own service games throughout the set, Norrie pounced at 5-4 in the set, closing out the set with a perfectly judged drop volley winner.
At the beginning of the decisive set, Zverev took the initiative by immediately breaking serve before Norrie immediately reeled him back and retrieved the break. Each time Zverev pushed, Norrie responded. First he held Zverev off in a spectacular game at 3-3, saving three break points with relentless aggression before holding serve. Then, down 0-30 at 5-5, Norrie pulled himself from the abyss on his own terms and forced a decisive tie-break.
After finding such a great balance in his attack for much of the match, Norrie’s level crumpled in the tiebreak. He began to overplay the drop shots, missing two in a row, then down 2-5 Norrie double faulted. Presented with such a big opportunity at a significant point, Zverev, with all of his experience, rolled through the tiebreak to take the match.
Shortly after, Norrie departed Margeret Court Arena to a standing ovation. After ending last season seemingly burned out, Norrie had started the year positively before a wrist injury on the eve of the Australian Open threatened to wreck his progress. Despite those issues, Norrie found his form in the early rounds, and he has since played some of the best tennis of his life. In the process, he has positioned himself for a great season.
Zverev, meanwhile, continues to win while under significant scrutiny after the Berlin criminal courts revealed before his first round match that the German would face a public trial for physically abusing his former girlfriend, Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his child. Zverev denies the charges.