by Cameron Norrie spent so much of his career enjoying the overly physical, defense-based style of play that inspired him; his ability to grind any given player to dust on any given day. It has clearly served the 28-year-old very well, propelling him into the top 10 and among the best players in the world.
But this week at Melbourne Park, Norrie has shown something more. He played with freedom, allowing himself more risk and embracing the variety in his game. On Monday evening, Norrie showed all those dimensions in full as he took on one of the best players in the world and fought to the end in a great contest before winning 7-5, 3-6 , 6-3, 4-6 7-6 (3) by sixth seed Alexander Zverev in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
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The four-hour, five-minute battle capped a remarkable tournament for 19th-seeded Norrie, who advanced to the second week at Melbourne Park for the first time in his career. In particular, he did so by playing more freely and proactively than ever before, making his offense and showing his diversity.
Midway through the contest, a pro-Palestinian protester briefly interrupted play by throwing leaflets onto the court. The leaflets read “CRIMINAL WAR AND GENOCIDE” and “FREE PALESTINE”. Other spectators removed the protest from the court.
For the second time in as many games, Norrie stepped onto the court for an extremely difficult match against a player he had an unbeaten record against. After producing one of the best performances of his career in the third round to defeat 11th seed Casper Ruud, who had won the previous three meetings and all but one set, against Zverev he conceded all four ATP matches in straight rows.
Norrie opened the game serving very well and trying to stand inside the baseline and control the exchanges. Taking care of his service games with ease, both players went through the set without breaks. But against such an imperious server, the pressure only takes hold throughout the set and only a weak service game is needed to fall behind. At 5-5, a few loose errors were enough for Zverev to pounce and take the decisive break.
As Zverev broke serve for a 3-2 lead in the second set, he appeared to be in complete control. But Norrie dug in immediately and responded with an excellent return game. After getting the break, Norrie flew through the rest of the series on the front foot; he served brilliantly, laid into his forehand down-the-line and aimed at Zverev’s treacherous forehand.
Zverev’s response came quickly in the third set. He re-established his dominance on serve, tearing up his service games with ease, and made Norrie pay for one poor service game as he took the third set.
Under immense pressure, Norrie showed his tenacity. During the fourth set, he played some of his best tennis. He stood inside the baseline again and led the baseline exchanges. Along with his attack, Norrie continued to show more creativity on the court, mixing in delicate downward shots and authoritative raids on the net. After racing through his own service games throughout the set, Norrie pulled away at 5-4 in the set, closing out the set with a well-respected volley winner.
At the start of the deciding set, Zverev took the initiative by immediately breaking serve before Norrie immediately returned it and recovered the break. Every time Zverev pushed, Norrie responded. First he broke Zverev in a thrilling game at 3-3, saving three break points with relentless violence before holding serve. Then, down 0-30 at 5-5, Norrie pulled himself out of the abyss on his own terms and forced a decisive tiebreak.
After finding such balance in his attack for much of the match, Norrie’s level dropped in the tie. He began to overplay the fall shots, missing two in a row, then down 2-5 Norrie double fault. When presented with such a great opportunity at a significant point, Zverev, with all his experience, stormed through the tiebreak to take the match.
Shortly after, Norrie Margeret Court Arena left for permanent mother. After a seemingly burnt-out end to last season, Norrie had started the year positively before a hand injury on the eve of the Australian Open threatened to derail his progress. Despite these issues, Norrie found his form in the opening rounds, and has since played some of the best tennis of his career. In the process, he has set himself up for a great season.
Meanwhile, Zverev continues to win under considerable scrutiny after Berlin’s criminal courts revealed before his first round match that the German would face a public trial for physically abusing his ex-girlfriend, Brenda Patea, who is also the mother of his child. Zverev denies the accusations.
