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The Guardian
32 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Cameron Norrie vows to stay vocal as Carlos Alcaraz awaits at Wimbledon
Cameron Norrie said he relishes playing Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Tuesday and will continue to compete with the competitive energy that has driven his success, regardless of what other people think. 'I'm excited to play against him and I'm going to have to play my best level, and even better, to have a chance because he's got such a diverse game,' Norrie said. 'I'm going to have to be tough and bring more energy to have a chance.' Norrie reached the quarter-finals by holding his nerve in a bruising five-set battle with the Chilean qualifier Nicolás Jarry on Sunday. Jarry complained afterwards to Norrie about his tendency to cheer loudly after most points. 'He said I was a little bit vocal and I think: 'That's my energy,'' Norrie said. The competitive drive and relentless positivity that the left‑hander displays have been key factors in his success over the years. Some players, however, are less enthused by opponents who cheer their unforced errors or after less important points. Asked last week about the impact of the crowd on their second-round match, Frances Tiafoe focused immediately on Norrie's cheering: 'He was super‑amped,' Tiafoe said. 'He was saying 'c'mon' from the first game, which is definitely annoying, but that part bothered me more than the crowd.' Norrie also tends to encourage himself in French and Spanish, which led to a tense moment with the Spaniard Roberto Carballés Baena in Metz last November after the British player recovered to seal a three-set win: 'You say 'vamos!' all the time, looking right in my face,' Carballes Baena said. Norrie then offered a self-deprecating response: 'A couple of 'vamoses' and you get pissed off?' he said. 'I'm playing so bad, so I had to fire myself up.' As he looked to his upcoming match against Alcaraz, Norrie, 29, took these criticisms in his stride: '[When] a couple of people have not been too happy with it, I think it's been in a big match. I think they want to win the match as well, so it's understandable to maybe take it personally. But for me, I'm just aiming it at my team and aiming it at some people and some friends in the crowd. 'I think [against Jarry] it was a match where there's some moments with not a lot happening. I think some of the points are maybe not worthy of saying 'vamos' or saying 'c'mon' but it was a match that I really had to do that, because those points that don't mean a lot, if you lose those ones, you can get broken, and the match can go away from you very quickly.' To his credit, Norrie keeps the same energy regardless of his opposition. After their match at the Italian Open in 2023, Novak Djokovic also took issue with Norrie's frequent fist‑pumping. As he faces off against Alcaraz, the two-time defending champion and French Open champion who is on a 22‑match winning run, Norrie vowed that he will not shy away from the occasion. 'There's a lot of big matches, and we're playing and we're competing for [our] livelihood out there. So I want to compete as hard as I can, and I'm not going to tank matches and roll over matches for someone else. I'm doing it for myself, I'm not doing it to make someone else feel bad, or not doing it for that. If they take it personally, it's nothing to do with me.' Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion Despite the gulf between their achievements, tennis is a game of match-ups and Norrie has at least caused Alcaraz trouble. The Spaniard has won four and lost two against Norrie but the Briton has won two of their past three meetings. At times, Norrie has been able to wear the world No 2 down with his shot tolerance and physicality, luring him into lengthy rallies and exposing Alcaraz's lack of patience. The pair have a great relationship and train together frequently at tournaments. 'Facing Cam is always really, really difficult,' Alcaraz said. 'We have really difficult battles. For me facing him is almost a nightmare, to be honest. Really tough from the baseline. I'm not surprised he's in the quarter-final playing great tennis because I've seen him practising. When he lost at Queen's [Club], he stayed for five days practising morning, afternoon and night. I saw him. So I'm not surprised at all seeing his level.' Alcaraz, though, has improved dramatically since Norrie won their most recent meeting, in the 2023 Rio Open final. He presents a completely different challenge across best-of-five-sets at grand slams and the grass courts only accentuate his complete game. The Spaniard will enter Centre Court as the clear favourite in his pursuit of a third Wimbledon title .
Daily Mirror
33 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Portugal stars pay moving tribute to Diogo Jota before Euro 2025 match vs Italy
Liverpool and Portugal star Diogo Jota and his brother Andrea SIlva died in a car accident on Thursday and their compatriots in the women's national side have paid tribute Portugal's women's team warmed up in shirts bearing the name of tragic striker Diogo Jota before their Euro 2025 match against Italy. Jota, who died in a car accident last week, won 49 caps for the men's senior side and was part of the UEFA Nations League winning squad earlier in the summer. UEFA announced there would be a moment of silence ahead of kick-off in all of Thursday's matches after the death of Jota and his brother Andre Silva. This continued over the weekend, with silence observed before England's defeat against France in Zurich. Portugal lost heavily against Spain in their opening group game, less than 24 hours after learning of the death of the the two footballers. Silva, the younger of the brothers, was on the books of Penafiel in his home country while Jota had just won the Premier League with Liverpool. "It was a really tough day to play football, because this life is much more than a game, much more than football," forward Jessica Silva said after the match. "Of course everyone is sad. It's heavy, my heart is heavy - much more important things than playing a game." Manager Francisco Neto said: "Of course, if we had the possibility to change everything, we would change everything for sure. But this is a hard day for us." READ MORE: Diogo Jota will live forever at Liverpool and beyond - but now is time to grieve Tributes poured in for Jota and Silva over the last few days, while a funeral service for the pair was held over the weekend in their home town of Gondomar. The Liverpool star's club and international team-mates were in attendance, while others paid private tributes to their former colleague. "I think we'll all remember where we were, but it goes bigger than football what we're all feeling now," former Liverpool and Wolves centre-back Conor Coady told BBC Sport. "This has hit everybody hard. "And it will hit everybody hard for a long, long time because Diogo was a fantastic human being, an amazing friend, an amazing husband, an amazing father and an absolutely incredible footballer for all the clubs he has played for. "He was an unbelievable person. This is celebrating an incredible human being. A human being who should never have left us this early and this [early] into an amazing career." The tributes came ahead of a game Portugal can't afford to lose. They welcomed Kika Nazareth back into their starting XI for the match in Geneva as they chase a win which could help kick-start their campaign.
BBC News
37 minutes ago
- BBC News
Bromsgrove competitive eater Leah Shutkever calls being female an advantage
A competitive eater has said being a woman in an area dominated by men gives her an edge, after she ate a dozen burgers in 10 minutes for her latest Shutkever, who lives in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, has been a professional competitive eater since 2018 and has her own YouTube said she had broken 40 Guinness World Records, including the most lasagne eaten in 30 seconds and the most jelly snakes eaten in 30 seconds."Being a woman has been a great advantage, because being underestimated is the greatest [tool]," Ms Shutkever said. She added that she enjoyed her job because she was competitive and she liked representing women in her Shutkever said she "fell into" competitive eating in 2013 by doing challenges at local restaurants, before being scouted for a Japanese TV show."They loved the idea that I was a woman and I beat the men," the former interior designer said. She said her feats have included eating a three-kilo burrito in about six minutes, as well as a challenge involving the Swedish fermented fish surströmming."The smell stays on your skin, on the walls of your house, embedded in the memory part of your brain," she said of the surströmming Shutkever likened herself to a professional sportsperson, saying she had many years of experience and knew how to manage challenges she made a YouTube video on her own, she took on challenges that were not high-risk for someone at her level, she she attempts a world record there is a team present to support her, and when she appears on TV shows there are risk assessments and on-site paramedics, she added. For her latest challenge last month, Ms Shutkever had to eat as many burgers as possible in 10 minutes."I'm a bit of an old hand at it now, so I know how I'm going to feel afterwards," she said, adding that she often feels "heavy" after a challenge but not post-challenge routine usually includes a long drive home, drinking lots of water, and going to the gym for cardio exercises if she feels up to said that, despite her day job, she still enjoyed food outside of work."I still love food, I'm a foodie," she said. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
