Carlos Alcaraz says 'I saw him' as late-night Cameron Norrie observation emerges
Cam Norrie faces off against Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in the quarter-finals in SW19 on Tuesday
Cameron Norrie faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in the quarter-finals
(Image: Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images )
Cameron Norrie is still flying the flag for Britain at this year's Wimbledon and he is now set to face the daunting task of Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
The defending champion, fresh from his Grand Slam win in Paris last month, will lock horns with Norrie on Centre Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Both players had to dig deep for their place in the last eight, with Norrie seeing off Nicolas Jarry in a four-hour epic on Sunday. There was a bit of needle between the pair too, with an animated handshake taking place after the match concluded.
'For both of us, we really wanted to win the match,' said Norrie. 'Yeah, I think it was obviously frustrating for him to lose. I just told him, 'Man, that was unbelievable level. You competed so well, and I loved the way you kind of responded'.
"It was such a good match. The atmosphere was really good.
'I think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal, but I was aiming directly at my team and pulling from the crowd. The atmosphere of the court was so, so good.
Article continues below
'Honestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. And to see him not only playing at that level, you know, seeing him enjoying his tennis and coming through quallies so easily and dropping guys, so I wish him all the best.
'I guess we both really wanted to win. It was a huge match, so I can understand where he's coming from.'
Alcaraz, meanwhile, had to come from a set down to beat Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 under the lights on Centre Court.
He now faces Norrie, whom he was beaten in four of their six career meetings - although the latter won their most recent battle in the final of the Rio Open in 2023.
The Spaniard says he has already spotted the lengths Norrie is going to to improve his game, catching him practising night and day at Queen's recently.
'Facing Cam is always really, really difficult,' said Alcaraz. 'We have really difficult battles already.
'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 practicing.
'When he lost at Queen's, he stayed for five days practising morning, afternoon and night.
"I saw him. So I'm not surprised at all seeing his level.
Article continues below
"So it's going to be really different.
'He's playing at home, as well, so he's going to use the crowd on his side. I have to be really strong mentally and focused to play good tennis if I want to beat him.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Carlos Alcaraz gets a pizza the action with fans as defending Wimbledon champion dines out in London ahead of men's final clash at SW19
Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz loaded up on carbs the healthy way as he dined out with his team ahead of today's men's final at SW19. The 22-year-old Spanish star tucked into a hefty gluten-free, cheese-topped pizza in an Italian restaurant in south-west London on Friday night. Back-to-back Wimbledon winner Alcaraz's gluten-free diet is following in the footsteps of veteran Novak Djokovic, with the 24-time Grand Slam winner crediting it with transforming his performance. The diet is believed to reduce inflammation and boost energy levels. Despite his fame, Alcaraz is known for frequenting local neighbourhood restaurants – such as the Olive Garden in Southfields just down the road from the All England Club – wherever he plays. Dressed casually in grey Nike shorts and a white T-shirt, he swapped his trainers for trendy white Crocs emblazoned with charms spelling his nickname 'Carlitos' across both shoes. Arriving with an entourage of nine, Alcaraz was 20 minutes late for his table. Staff pulled down blinds near his corner table to give the star privacy. But he was happy to pose for pictures with fans, right, who wished him good luck for today's match as he left the restaurant at 11pm. Alcaraz faces world No 1 Jannik Sinner, who is looking to avenge his French Open defeat. Italian Sinner escaped a lengthy drugs ban last year after twice testing positive for steroids. Alcaraz is battling to join an elite club of men who have won the title three years in succesion, which at present includes only Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic. Even Alcaraz's hero Nadal's only won two Wimbledon crowns. Between 2003 to 2023, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic accumulated 66 Grand Slam titles between them. However, Djokovic's semi-final defeat is just the latest evidence that a changing of the guard has taken place, with Sinner and Alcaraz perhaps the next big rivalry to dominate the sport. Between them, Alcaraz and Sinner have shared the last six Grand Slam titles and their mesmeric clash last month in the longest-ever French Open final is being touted as one of the greatest of all time. The Spaniard came back from two sets down and saved three match points on his way to a fifth Grand Slam title, in the process taking his head-to-head record over Sinner to 8-4, including winning all of the last four. It was a painful defeat for world number one Sinner but he has not had to wait long to try to set the record straight. 'He is the favourite. He won here two times in a row. He's again in the final. It's very tough to beat him on grass but I like these challenges,' the 23-year-old Sinner said of Alcaraz after beating Djokovic to reach his first Wimbledon final. 'This is the second consecutive Grand Slam that we are in the final and playing each other, which is great from my side. I believe it's good for the sport.' Sinner's three Grand Slam titles have all come on hard courts, two in Melbourne and one in New York. The only other time they have met on grass was at Wimbledon in 2022 when Sinner won their last-16 clash in four sets. 'I expect that on Sunday, just to be on the limit, to be on the line,' the 22-year-old Alcaraz, who is on a 24-match winning streak, said. 'I just hope not to be five hours and a half on court again. But if have to, I will.'
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Jannik Sinner seeks instant revenge in latest instalment of rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz
Great sport is all about rivalry. In the 70s and 80s, tennis had Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, who played against each other a whopping 80 times, 60 of them in finals. In the last half-century, men's tennis has been lucky to have Björn Borg and John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and McEnroe, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and any combination you choose of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Now we have Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. Alcaraz and Sinner have played each other 12 times, with Alcaraz leading 8-4 after winning their incredible match in the French Open final last month, when the Spaniard saved three match points before triumphing in an epic five-setter. Like all great rivalries, these two men bring out the best in each other and their Paris match is already being talked of as one of the greatest of all time. They meet again on Sunday, this time for the Wimbledon title. For Alcaraz, it is a chance to become the fifth man to win the title three times in a row, joining Borg, Sampras, Federer and Djokovic. For Sinner, it is an opportunity to wipe Roland Garros from his memory. Alcaraz has five slam titles, Sinner three, and between them they have won the past six. Their rivalry may not yet be in the same bracket as Djokovic, Nadal and Federer, but it is developing rapidly. 'The things we are doing right now is great for tennis,' Alcaraz said. 'We just fight to engage more people to watch. Sharing the big tournaments with Jannik, playing in finals and in final rounds, it's great.' Sinner admits his rivalry with Alcaraz can not be compared to what the Big Three did for 15-plus years. 'Six grand slams are one and a half years. It's not that big yet,' he said. 'This is the second consecutive grand slam we are in the final. I believe it's good for the sport. The more rivalries we have from now on, the better it is, because people want to see young players going against each other. 'I'm happy to be in that position, but let's see in the future. If we can make that happen for the next three, four years, then people can think about it.' Sinner is the world No 1, the most dominant player on hard courts, having won all three of his slam titles on the surface. Alcaraz has two French Open titles to his name and as the champion here the past two years has the edge on grass. Alcaraz has won the past five matches between the two, but knows the margin between them is paper-thin. On any given day, it is about who executes their gameplan the better, who holds their nerve in the tightest moments. Sinner says he has already shaken off the mental scarring of missing those match points in Paris and with the exception of the fourth round, when he was two sets down to Grigor Dimitrov before the Bulgarian retired through injury, he has played superbly here. Nothing seems to faze him and, even if that loss at Roland Garros must have hurt, he sounds genuine when he says he will have a clear mind when he steps out on to Centre Court. 'If it would be a lot in my head, I would not be in the situation to play a final again' he said. 'I'm very happy to share once again the court with Carlos. It's going to be difficult, I know that. But I'm looking forward to it. 'It's a different match. He is the favourite. He won here two times in a row. It's very tough to beat him on grass, but I like these challenges. I like to go head-to-head, trying to see what I can do and what I can reach.' Alcaraz dismisses any suggestion he has a mental edge because of what happened in Paris, stressing how Sinner has always learned from defeats. 'I expect to be on the limit, to be on the line,' he said. 'It's going to be a great day, a great final. I'm excited about it. I just hope not to be five hours and a half on court again.'
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Carlos Alcaraz against Jannik Sinner is the new Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal, writes MATTHEW LAMBWELL
Carlos or Jannik? The Spanish showman or the Italian ice man? It is time to pick your side, because the next great rivalry in tennis is upon us. For four years Alcaraz and Sinner have duelled, but it was not until last month at the French Open that they met in a Grand Slam final. The result was extraordinary — five-and-a-half hours in which the sport was played at a level never before seen. If that was the birth of the rivalry, then today comes its baptism here at the cathedral of tennis. Alcaraz, 22, is the favourite, having won the last two titles here and five matches in a row against 23-year-old Sinner. But what that night in Paris told us is that when these two collide with their best tennis, there is not much to choose between them. The match will be decided by a point here and there. Sinner and Alcaraz are the second duo in the Open Era to contest the French Open and Wimbledon finals in the same year — Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did so three times from 2006-08. Whoever wins, it will be the seventh Slam in a row these two have carved up between them. If one of them wins the US Open, as is very much expected, it will be the first time two men have won all the majors across two years since — you guessed it — Federer and Nadal in 2006 and 2007. The comparison is becoming impossible to escape. Sinner's unflappable, graceful exterior owes much to the example of Federer. He is Italian but from San Candido in the north, and in temperament more similar to his Swiss neighbours, just 100 miles to the west, than his more hot-blooded countrymen further towards Italy's boot. Alcaraz, of course, grew up idolising Nadal and plays with the same pulsating physicality. How desperately tennis needed these two to emerge. They are carrying the men's game into a new era — two warheads the sport can bring to the battle for eyeballs and attention. In looking ahead to the final, Alcaraz was happy to embrace that responsibility. 'The things we are doing right now are great for tennis,' he said. 'We are fighting to engage more people to watch tennis, fighting for tennis to be bigger. 'We are still really young, so I just hope to keep doing the right things for the next five or 10 years, just to bring our rivalry to the same table as those players.' Sinner, typically, was more wary of embracing the comparison to the giants of the past. 'You cannot compare what the Big Three did for 15-plus years,' said the No 1 seed. 'Of course, we find ourselves again in this position, the second consecutive Grand Slam that we are in the final. I believe it's good for the sport. If we can make that happen for the next three, four years, then people can think about it.' So, who is going to win? Both players have had their struggles this fortnight. Sinner was two sets down to Grigor Dimitrov before a tear of the Bulgarian's pectoral muscle ushered him through. It was an enormous stroke of fortune. Alcaraz was taken to five sets by Fabio Fognini in the opening round and has dropped three more sets since then. But in the quarter-finals and semis these two have looked like something close to their best. Sinner comes out on top in almost all the stats — but then again he always does. He is the more consistent performer, whereas Alcaraz needs to face the best to play his best. It is revealing that the Spaniard slumped during the three months in which Sinner was serving an anti-doping ban. Of course, the spectre of the French Open final will loom over Centre Court. Alcaraz came back from two sets to love down in Paris and from 5-3, 40-0 down in the fourth set. Alcaraz can take huge confidence from that but so, too, can Sinner. He, of course, could easily have won and in mounting a comeback in that fifth set he answered to some extent the questions about his physicality — in his career Sinner has lost all seven of the matches which have lasted longer than three hours and 50 minutes. 'I'm not thinking I have an advantage mentally because of that match,' said Alcaraz. 'I expect Sunday to be at the limit, on the line.
