After his first-round show court snub, British No1 Cameron Norrie stepped into at least the fringes of the limelight to become the first home player to reach the third round at this year’s Wimbledon thanks to an enthralling five-set victory over Spain’s Jaume Munar.
Norrie had dealt diplomatically with being made to play his opener on Court 2, despite being the highest seeded Brit in either singles draw, and again had to cede to the triple threat of the Djokovic-Raducanu-Murray headline act on Centre, but eventually made use of a grand enough stage here on Court 1, coming from two-sets-to-one down to win 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-0 6-2.
Munar, the world No71, was impressive, the better player for much of the encounter, and having reached this stage for the first time leaves SW19 with his reputation enhanced.
Norrie, meanwhile, did not play anything like his best tennis until the start of the fourth set, when, scrapping to stay in the tournament, he won eight games in a row to sensationally turn the contest on its head.
“I was a bit fortunate to win that first set, [Munar] was the better player,” he conceded afterwards. “Then he was too good in the second and third.”
Norrie made a sluggish start, forced to save three break points in his opening service game and only holding thanks to an errant challenge from his opponent, who rattled off the first two games on his own serve without dropping a point.
It was clear already that Munar, who has never reached the third round of a Grand Slam event but took Diego Schwartzman to five sets at Roland Garros last month, was likely to prove a trickier customer than compatriot Pablo Andújar had in Norrie’s previous match, but his backhand into the net at 3-3 gave up what proved the decisive break in the first set, which went the Brit’s way somewhat against the run of play.
Norrie was again facing break point early in the second set and this time erred, striking a forehand long to give Munar an initiative which he carried into a 5-3 lead.
Serving to level the match, the Spaniard was in trouble at 0-30 but held his nerve to deservedly restore parity with a quite wonderful lob, a feature of his game all afternoon.
Norrie seemed to have shifted the momentum of the match when he broke back to level midway through the third set having already mustered a crucial hold with his opponent on the brink of a three-game lead, but the sloppiness crept back into his play late on to allow Munar to edge 2-1 ahead without the need for a tie-break.
Norrie offered Munar a taste of his own medicine with a terrific backhand lob to bring up two break points at the start of the fourth set and though the first was saved, Munar missed his forehand up the line to give his rival a 2-0 lead and renewed belief.
Suddenly, Norrie looked a dominant force, breezing through his next service game to love with a couple of deft touches at the net, before roaring back from 40-0 with five points on the bounce to go a double-break up and make a fifth set all-but inevitable.
Soon, a Norrie victory was looking similarly certain as he raced into a 2-0 lead in the decider with Munar looking out on his feet, only for him to find a second (or tenth) wind, break back and halt the charge.
It proved only temporary relief however, and after three hours and 13 minutes of gripping tennis, Norrie prevailed to equal his best Slam performance.
After battling through here, the 26-year-old now looks to have a superb chance of reaching the last-16 of a Grand Slam for the first time, with America’s world No93 Steve Johnson - who beat Britain’s Ryan Peniston in straight sets earlier on Wednesday - standing in his way in a third-round match on Friday that, following Raducanu’s exit, may even get Centre Court billing.
