British No. 1 Cameron Norrie exited Wimbledon with his head held high following defeat to Novak Djokovic and is looking nowhere but up for his next target.
The 26-year-old ventured beyond the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career and made it all the way to the final four in London. It appeared the upset was on when he won the first set against Djokovic, only for the world No. 3 to advance to Sunday's final, where he'll face Nick Kyrgios.
Norrie—who was born in South Africa to British parents but spent most of his childhood in New Zealand —could easily accept that result as an anomaly in his home major. However, the former Kiwi representative is eager to ensure he one day goes all the way and joins the Grand Slam-winning ranks.
“Great experience. I can take a lot of confidence from it," he told the ATP Tour. "To reach the semis, reach the Friday of the second week, is pretty sick. But I think for me, I want to go [for] more and I want to do more of that and go one further and try to win a Slam."
There were points early on in Friday's semi-final when arguably the biggest surprise of SW19 this year seemed to be incoming. Norrie had overcome tough tests from the likes of David Goffin, Tommy Paul, Steve Johnson and Jaume Munar, but nobody able to replicate Djokovic's threat level.
Both semi-finalists had played 19 sets at Wimbledon this year building towards Friday's showdown. Djokovic, 35, escaped a close call of his own when he came from two sets down to defeat Italian up-and-comer Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals.
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It would be easy for any player to dwell on the missed opportunity to make a maiden Grand Slam final after featuring in a major semi for the first time. However, Norrie looked back on "a lot of good experiences" and appears more eager than ever to join tennis' true elite.
“For me, I went out there and there was a lot of pressure on me to win," he added. "I had good chances to win. So for me to come out and serve out sets, serve out matches, and have the nerve to do that, to have the level of focus, just overall it was a lot of fun doing that.”
Being the favourite doesn't sit all too easily with a player who prefers the role of the underdog, because then "you've got nothing to lose," said Norrie. However, it's a sensation the 2021 Indian Wells-winner may have to become more and more accustomed with as his star continues to grow.
