As Cameron Norrie clinched the biggest win of his life on Tuesday to reach the semi‑finals of Wimbledon for the first time, he reflected on how he has achieved more than what he thought was possible as a child.
He said: “When I made the quarter-finals the other day, I was thinking about when I was a kid and watching guys on TV making the quarter‑finals and thinking: ‘Wow, this looks so tough to do, and there’s almost zero chance I’m going to do that.’ But just to actually be doing it and to be living it and experiencing it is very cool and pretty crazy actually.”
Norrie defeated David Goffin 3-6, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 on No 1 Court to reach the semi-finals and a shot at Novak Djokovic. After a nervous start against a difficult opponent, Norrie trailed two sets to one before tapping into his fight and consistency and mounting a comeback in front of a booming crowd which included the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
After being informed that Henman Hill is now being referred to as Norrie’s Knoll, Norrie laughed. “I don’t even know what a knoll is,” he said. “I would say it doesn’t roll off the tongue as well as Henman Hill. I’ll take it.”
In his semi-final on Friday, Norrie will attempt the lofty task of dethroning the defending champion Djokovic. Earlier in the day, the top seed recovered from two sets down to defeat Jannik Sinner 5-7, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 on Centre Court. “I think it’s obviously one of the toughest tasks in tennis,” Norrie said. “I’d say grass is his favourite surface and his record is unbelievable here at Wimbledon.
“It’s going to be tough. I’m going to have to improve a lot of things from today. I don’t think I’m going to have the chance to lose focus like I did today. I think I was a little bit fortunate. I, a couple of times, lost a little bit of focus and managed to get it back. I think with him, there is no room for that.”
Afterwards, Goffin paid tribute to his superior opponent, highlighting the improvements that Norrie has made in recent years. “Of course from last year or the last two years he started to keep fighting every match. He started to win one, two, three, four matches, then trophies, and now he’s in the top 10. So he’s just continued to improve his game, improve his mentality, physically. I don’t know where he’s gonna go, but he’s in the top 10 and it’s huge.”
