“It’s pretty interesting,” Cameron Norrie replied, as the British No 1 and the hope of Wimbledon was asked how British he really felt. A tennis player born in South Africa to a Welsh mother and Scottish father, raised in New Zealand and whose college education took him to the United States now carries the weight of a nation at the All England Club. As the question implied, though, which one? “My background is obviously from various places,” Norrie went on. “But I’m living here, based here...”
There would be no question as the emotion poured out on Court No 1, following Norrie’s stunning five-set victory over David Goffin in the quarter-finals. It means there will be a British semi-finalist at Wimbledon, with Norrie becoming just the fourth man in the open era to reach the final four of the Championships. Standing in his way is the six-time champion Novak Djokovic, who has extended his five-year winning run at Wimbledon to 26 matches. Norrie, the unassuming 26-year-old, can no longer attempt to fly under the spotlight that his unheralded rise to the top level of the sport had yet to grab.
