At a vital moment of an engrossing second-round match here on Wednesday, Cameron Norrie was as much of a spectator as anyone in a partisan crowd on No 1 Court.
At a set down, 4-4 and 30-40 in the second, Frances Tiafoe, the No 12 seed, had got a racket to Norrie’s second shot and the ball took a slow, looping arc towards the sideline. The American’s band of supporters were halfway out of their seats to acclaim a vital break – only to see it land just wide. A relieved Norrie had clawed back to deuce from 0-40 down, and he seized the moment to hold, then break and gradually exert an ever-stronger grip on a match that had briefly threatened to get away from him, as he eventually ran out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 winner.
