Cameron Norrie did what he could. Rather than easing into a long best-of-five-sets match, he played at full throttle from the beginning by launching into forehands and forcing himself inside the baseline at all cost. He worked through every shot in his arsenal, frequently sweeping forward to the net. He punctuated each small victory with booming cries of “allez”.
In tennis, however, match-ups are king and the past meetings between Norrie and Alexander Zverev have already illustrated how the German’s game is built to outlast and overpower the Briton. This seventh meeting between them ended no differently as Zverev, the third seed, secured a tough 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over the 26th seed to advance to the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Despite the defeat, Norrie departs Australia with another solid grand slam showing. He has enjoyed some of his best form at the elite tournaments over the past year, winning every match he has entered the court as favourite. He has been defeated by top players in each of the four majors, with Carlos Alcaraz defeating him at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic doing so at the French Open and US Open, and now Zverev following on in Melbourne. For all the grit, discipline and spirit he showcases every time he steps on the court, Norrie has simply lacked the weapons to consistently trouble the top players over the best-of-five-set matches.
This match-up is particularly reflective of those struggles. Zverev entered John Cain Arena 6-0 against Norrie and their spectacular fourth round match here in 2024, which Zverev escaped in a fifth set tie-break after four hours of spectacular, uncharacteristic net rushing from Norrie, was anomalous. Every other meeting has taken a similar route, with Zverev matching Norrie’s physicality and eventually overpowering him with his far greater serve and ball speed.
One of Norrie’s most admirable qualities is his self-awareness. He is not delusional about his skill set and he is prideful of the attritional style of play that has earned him so much success. Instead of wasting his time by futilely attempting to grind Zverev down, he tried to elevate his level from the beginning. He rightfully attempted to break down the Zverev forehand and he approached the net 40 times in total, an uncharacteristic figure for a player who earns his keep by grinding from the baseline. He played well, but not well enough to turn the tables on one of his most difficult opponents.
