Andy Murray has backed Cameron Norrie to shock Novak Djokovic on Centre Court tomorrow.
Djokovic has not lost at Wimbledon for five years and is the hot favourite to beat the British No1 and go on to win a seventh SW19 title.
But two-time champion Murray believes his countryman can pull off a grass-court upset in the semi-final.
He told Standard Sport: “We’ve seen some stuff in tennis over the last few years that no one expected, like with Emma [Raducanu, winning the US Open].
“Novak had a very tough match against Jannik Sinner [over five sets in the last eight] which I don’t think many were expecting.
“He came through it but it was tight and Cam is right up there with guys like Sinner right now in terms of ranking and results. It’s going to be close. It’s an unbelievably difficult obstacle.
“Novak has won here six times, been in the final multiple times, I don’t think he’s lost here since 2017 and he was injured there, as well.
“It is an unbelievably difficult ask but the thing that you can guarantee with Cam is he will give himself the best opportunity to win because he will fight for every single point, he’s going to compete extremely hard and he doesn’t make it easy for anyone.”
Following his five-set quarter-final win over David Goffin, Norrie singled out Murray for praise as a practice partner and also as a sounding board in his steady climb to just outside the world’s top 10.
Murray has been renowned for his work ethic throughout his playing days and said that, immaterial of the result tomorrow against Djokovic, Norrie could not be faulted for a lack of effort or professionalism.
“Every time I’ve been on court with him or around him, he’s had a top-class attitude,” he said. “He gets the most out of every practice session, works extremely hard and he’s making the most of his talent and ability.
Norrie is one of the best players in the world and he’s been doing it consistently for the last seven or eight months
“He’s one of the best players in the world and he’s been doing it consistently for the last seven or eight months.
“I don’t believe that you get into the top positions in the world without working extremely hard. You would hope every player would be like that and try to get the most out of themselves like Cam, but that isn’t the case with everybody.”
Norrie’s run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon will not boost his world ranking, however.
He is currently 12th but the ATP scrapped all ranking points for Wimbledon as a response to the decision by the All England Club to ban players from Russia and Belarus from competing in response to the invasion of Ukraine.
On current form, Norrie looks likely to crack the top 10 in the ensuing weeks and months on tour and Murray says it is impossible to predict how high he could end up going.
“The reality is I don’t know the answer to that and no one does,” he said. “Making predictions on results and someone’s career-high ranking, whether they’re going to win Slams or not, is impossible to do. You just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“But I know being around Cam and the team of people that he has around him, as well as his mentality, that he will go as far as possible for him and his ability, and that’s the best thing that you can do as an athlete — get the most out of yourself, and he’s doing that.”
