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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Andy Dunn

Cameron Norrie through to Wimbledon semi-finals with epic five-set David Goffin win

Cameron Norrie booked a Wimbledon semi-final meeting with Novak Djokovic thanks to an epic comeback win over David Goffin.

The Brit was struggling for form and looked down and out at several stages of a rollercoaster clash.

But he dug deep to grind out a five-set triumph - 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 - in front of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Considering he was far from his best for much of the match, it was a truly remarkable win for Norrie, who now faces the six-times champion on Centre Court on Friday.

As the sole Brit standing - albeit a very cosmopolitan Brit - and with a world ranking 46 places higher than Goffin’s, there was clearly an added layer of pressure on Norrie.

Cameron Norrie is through to the Wimbledon semi-finals (Getty Images)

William and Kate were also in town, if that made any difference.

It is fair to say Norrie hardly started like royalty, although he was the king of the unforced error in an opening set that hardly set Court No.1 alight.

If he was a bit miffed at not being on Centre Court, he had a point but that did not excuse a series of mistakes that helped Goffin settle into a rhythm.

In truth, the unseeded Belgian player - at 31, five years Norrie’s senior - did not have to do anything spectacular to win a first set that was pretty shy of quality, the one break of serve enough to nudge Goffin ahead.

With the crowd getting behind him in the way that Wimbledon crowds do - relatively politely - Norrie needed a spark, needed a jump-start.

And it appeared to materialise when he saved three break points in the fifth game of the second set.

Norrie celebrates his historic win (Javier Garcia/REX/Shutterstock)

Although Norrie did not win a point on his next service game, he broke again and levelled matters at a set apiece.

Alas, it was something of a false dawn, a blip of positivity - the unforced errors continued to flow and Goffin won the third set in a canter and looked like he would cruise to an unexpected win.

But with royalty now in the arena, Norrie put up a better showing in the fourth set and a string of games saw him clinch it 6-3.

That set up a tense decider and with the home crowd in full voice, it seemed as though all the momentum was with the Brit - and so it proved to be.

Although Norrie still made an array of unforced errors, he showed guts and determination to take the final set 7-5 and set up that last-four showdown with Djokovic.

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