And as the decibel levels rose, the increasingly rowdy crowd also came up with a new chant: “Nori! Norrie! Norrie! Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!” It was the sound of joy, but also of acceptance. It has taken some time. The fact that Norrie was born in Johannesburg to a Scottish father and a Welsh mother – and then spent the first 16 years of his life in New Zealand – may have played a role. Its late development and the pandemic also mean it took a while to break it down. But Norrie certainly has now, after destroying Johnson 6-4, 6-1, 6-0, to reach the last 16 of a grand slam for the first time. “I played really well today and I enjoyed it,” Norrie said. “It was great to see the crowd react and it definitely added to the atmosphere of the match.” Asked directly about the chant, he started to smile. “Honestly, it was pretty funny,” he replied. “I don’t know why I was thinking about it, every time they sang it, I broke serve. It’s a good sign – I’m a little cautious. But when you have the momentum and everything is going your way, it can help. I will definitely get it. “On the other hand, if I was down in the score, they can bring me into the score. I try to use it to my advantage as much as I can. It was good fun out there.” Norrie also touched on his past, noting that he had lived in London before and after attending college in the US. “I’m very rarely in New Zealand,” he added. “I’ve only been playing tennis for the last five years. I feel really good in London.” This certainly seems to be the case. And suddenly Norrie can see a path to the semi-finals that looks a lot more manageable than he might dare to believe. Next up is American No. 30 Tommy Paul, who has enjoyed a strong grass court season. Then it’s likely to be 23rd seed Francis Tiafoe. Cameron Norrie connects with a forehand on his way to beating Steve Johnson in straight sets. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters Both matches are likely to be coin flips. But they can also be earned. “It’s going to be a battle for sure,” he said. “Tommy won very comfortably today. I think grass is probably his best surface. He seems really locked in and really likes the grass. It will be very difficult, regardless of whether the draw is open or not. “At the end of the day I’ll take it. I’m practicing with Tommy. He is my good friend. We’ve trained maybe two or three times already here at Wimbledon. We know each other’s game very well. Good friends off the field. But we’ll both put that aside on Sunday.” One of the constant themes of this first week has been how slow Center Court has been to fill to anything close to capacity. However, it was particularly evident here. The old arena – which celebrates its centenary this year – was still half-full 20 minutes into the game. Those who came early would have noticed that Norrie was by far the stronger player early on only to fail to capitalize on double break point opportunities at 2-1 and 3-2 up. A fifth break point also went 5-4, 40-15 on Johnson’s serve. But moments later, a runaway winner brought the crowd off their feet as Norrie took the first set after 41 minutes. Grass is Johnson’s best surface and the only one on which he has a positive win-loss record. But when he was broken early in the second set his shoulders began to slump and his heart was no longer in it as Norrie raced to a two-set lead. Unlike most of the big names in tennis, Norrie doesn’t have any real monster weapons. His serve does not tear the opponent’s heart out. His groundstrokes – a heavy topspin forehand and flat backhand – are more accurate than powerful. However, what he has more than most is excellent physical condition. It never proved better than at 1-1 in the second set, when he not only broke back to recover a lob, but did it so quickly that he had time to put Johnson on the defensive with his next shot. Norrie wasn’t about to take his foot off Johnson’s neck. One timeout early in the third was followed by another, and suddenly it was 3-0 up and in sight of the finish line. Near the end a fan yelled “We love you Cameron.” He returned the smile. And then he finished the job.
