Cameron Norrie wants a shaft of the Centre Court limelight after asking new locker room pal Novak Djokovic for tips on handling the biggest stage in tennis.
Twelve months ago, Britain's No.1 was barred entry to the exclusive seeds' changing rooms at Wimbledon because he wasn't ranked high enough.
But after bagging the locker next to six-times champion Djokovic this year, Norrie – who has never been past the third round of any Grand Slam - saw off Spanish veteran Pablo Andujar 6-0, 7-6, 6-3 in a match twice delayed by rain.
Norrie now meets another Spaniard, world No.71 Jaime Munar – and he is dreaming of a show court date.
The No.9 seed stopped short of complaining that he was shunted out on to Court No.2 while unseeded Andy Murray was afforded his customary prime time slot on centre stage.
But Norrie has found recognition a slow burner in the strawberry fields of SW19, and he revealed: “Last year, after making the final at Queen's, I was seeded about 28 and I thought, 'Oh good, I made it to the seeded locker rooms.'
“I went to walk in there, and the security guy was like, 'No, no, no, you're not allowed in here.'
“It was only the top 14 seeds or something last year, maybe for Covid reasons, but I was so looking forward to doing it.
“I mean, the locker room is incredible - especially all the players in there, the showers and everything, unbelievable.
“It's so good - they put my locker right next to Novak's. I was asking him how Centre Court was, talking to him a little bit. Mostly all his stuff was in the way of mine. I was trying to get past him, trying to get to my locker.
“But it's definitely a different feel coming in this year and being in that locker room, being around those players, having the chance to talk to them and see them around.
“And it would be nice to play on a show court, especially with the weather. As we saw today, I had to come off twice. Having a roof over Centre Court and No.1 Court means you're guaranteed to play.
“Yeah, I would like to be on a bigger court, but I had a great support behind me today.”
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Norrie was two points from victory when the heavens opened, and he returned after a 90-minute delay to finish the match in just four minutes.
He said: “It's not easy, especially thinking it could have been done. It was kind of strange to come out and play only five or six points, and the match was done.
“I saw the dark clouds coming and someone shouted out, 'Get it done before the rain' – and I was like, 'Come on, I'm trying to get it done!"
"A lot of waiting around and it wasn't the prettiest performance, but I got it done in straight sets and I'll take that and move on.”
