Tennis journo stuns world with ‘disrespectful' question to star
After Norrie defeated Italian Mattia Bellucci in straight sets, 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 to enter the fourth round of Wimbledon, he then took his chair in the press room to answer questions, so he thought, about the largely forgettable match and his form.
But what followed was not what he expected and, for what it's worth, not what other journalists expected either.
'Apart from everyone here loving tennis, some of the gossip has been about who Emma Raducanu is dating. Can I ask if you're dating her? Can we get to the bottom of this please?' the reporter asked, much to the surprise of Norrie.
Raducanu is obviously another rising Brit star on the tennis scene. And the world No.40 just got a standing ovation from the adoring crowd after losing her Centre Court match to Aryna Sabalenka 7-6, 6-4 on Saturday morning (AEST).
Norrie was shocked. 'Sorry?' he said. Cameron Norrie celebrates winning his match against Mattia Bellucci on Day 5 at Wimbledon. Credit: PA Images via Getty Images
The reporter continued: 'I'm trying to find out who's dating Emma Raducanu. It seems to be going around all the men's singles. I was wondering if you're dating her, please?'
Norrie: 'I'm not. No. You can ask her though.'
While Norrie clearly handled himself in a dignified manner, the exchange infuriated the tennis world.
Popular social media account the Tennis Letter was scathing.
'Cam Norrie being asked about Emma Raducanu's dating life in his Wimbledon press conference is a new all time low,' they said:
And respected tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg said: 'Even for British tabloids at Wimbledon, this is a yiiiiiiiikes.'
Fan raged.
'It's pathetic. Tennis journalism at its worst. Completely disrespectful towards Norrie and he shouldn't have entertained the question at all. Also, just curious how many people are even remotely interested in Raducanu's dating life?' one fan blasted on X (formerly Twitter).
'Omg, who would ask that?' another said.
And several fans thought a media ban was appropriate.
'It really is (appalling). They should not be allowed back in the press room,' a fan said.
And another: 'That 'reporter' needs to be banned.'
Norrie — a 2022 Wimbledon semi-finalist — will now face Nicolas Jarry in the fourth round after Jarry defeated Brazil's rising teenage star Joao Fonseca 6-3 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-4) on a raucous No.2 Court.
He is the last British man standing, keeping the home fans happy after they were disappointed to see Jack Draper depart on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz has survived a 'stressful' afternoon, coping with a barrage of booming serves from veteran German powerhhouse Jan-Lennard Struff to take his unbeaten streak to 21 matches and keep his Wimbledon hat-trick ambitions on course.
The Spanish champion knew all about the danger of the 35-year-old Struff, having been knocked out of the 2021 French Open by him when he was an emerging star and then also getting stretched by the towering German over five sets at the following year's Wimbledon.
And the same old problems emerged again on Friday when, after Alcaraz had eased through the first set, Struff, who blasted down 13 aces in all, responded brilliantly to clinch the crucial break for 5-3 before levelling the match.
But Alcaraz, who'd also had a serious workout from another veteran, Fabio Fognini, over five sets in the opening round, once again found another gear to prevail 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 in two hours and 25 minutes.
'I knew it was going to be really difficult and I had to be focused on every shot,' said the 22-year-old.
'His game suits the grass, big serves, coming to the net, so I'm pleased with everything I did today. Proud to get the win in four sets.
'To be honest I was suffering in every service game I did. Lots of break points down. It was stressful,' added Alcaraz, who set up a last-16 date with 14th seed Andrey Rublev, who eased past veteran French leftie Adrian Mannarino 7-5 6-2 6-3.
Taylor Fritz, who had already negotiated two marathon five-setters over three days to reach the third round, needed another three hours and 12 minutes to get past Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Yet though his workload has been massive and he's had issues with his knee, he reckons he's actually feeling stronger as each match goes by as he gets ready to face Australian Jordan Thompson, four-set victor over Luciano Darderi, in the last-16.
A surprising face in the last-16 draw will be Poland's world 109 Kamil Majchrzak, who beat Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (8-6) and will next face Russian 17th seed Karen Khachanov, who finally beat Portugal's Nuno Borges in a match tiebreak 7-6 (8-6) 4-6 4-6 6-3 7-6 (10-8).
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