Cam Norrie certainly gave it a good go at Wimbledon, with the British ace reaching the third round at SW19.
He definitely shouldn’t be ashamed about falling to SW19 fourth seed and French Open finalist Alexander Zverev.
Norrie put up a real fight against the German fourth seed, but eventually lost 6-4, 6-4, 7-6(17-15) on Centre Court.
The clash followed an all-British encounter between Norrie and Jack Draper in round two, with the latter having just replaced the former as the nation’s number one player.
The fall to second place for Norrie perhaps provided him with enough motivation to send a warning to Draper that the top spot can change hands once more in the near future.
Tim Henman shares why Cam Norrie’s form has dropped off
In the ATP rankings meanwhile, the 28-year-old occupies 42nd spot, having once climbed all the way to eighth place.
Having also been a former British number one, Tim Henman can certainly empathise with Norrie, with the pundit now analysing where it has gone wrong for the player lately.
“I think there are two elements,” Henman said on BBC’s 6-Love-6. “He has lost a bit of confidence, he has lost confidence because he has lost some of those close matches and to add to that the other players have been watching him for two and half years so they understand his strengths and weaknesses, so they know the way to play him.”
John McEnroe makes Cam Norrie world ranking claim
Norrie currently has a 16-14 record this year, with the five-time ATP Tour winner now focusing his efforts on the Swedish Open.
Tennis icon John McEnroe also shared his thoughts on the 28-year-old’s career so far, and what could come next for the Briton.
“To me Norrie in some ways overachieved to get to nine or 10 in the world,” said McEnroe. “I think it was a fantastic effort that he got that far with what he has got in his game.
“He beat Jack Draper, so I think that’s the first time in a while that Cam hasn’t felt that pressure. I think that helped him.
“If he got back to even 20 in the world I think that would be great. He went to 10, he’s now just outside 40.
“I think that 10 was an amazing result and he should be extremely proud if he got back to 20 in the world.”
Tim Henman predicts Jack Draper to compete in Grand Slams
The Swedish Open is now on Norrie’s mind, but he will also be keen on taking back his British number one crown from Draper, particularly after beating him at Wimbledon.
A 7-6(7-3), 6-4, 7-6(8-6) win was secured on Court One, with Draper having revealed that he and Norrie have ‘huge respect for each other’ before the match.
The younger of the duo, who just won his first ATP Tour title at the Stuttgart Open, has now been tipped to shine in the years to come, with Henman predicting Draper to be a ‘contender in Slams’.
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