Cameron Norrie up for the challenge as he aims to dethrone Carlos Alcaraz

Independent

07-07-2025

Cameron Norrie knows Wimbledon just got real after booking a quarter-final date with defending champion Carlos Alcaraz.
British number three Norrie beat Nicolas Jarry in a five-set marathon on Sunday to progress to the last eight for the second time.
The 29-year-old reached the semi-final in 2022, which was the last time Spanish superstar Alcaraz lost a match in SW19.
Since then Norrie has dropped from eight in the world to a low of 91 while Alcaraz, 22, has won two Wimbledons, two French Opens and a US Open.
The second seed has not looked entirely convincing so far this fortnight, however, dropping four sets including the first in his win over Andrey Rublev on Sunday evening.
Norrie, meanwhile, is on the verge of returning to the top 50 and is playing some of his best tennis since that run here three years ago.
But the Johannesburg-born left-hander will still go into Tuesday's showdown as a huge underdog.
'I think it only gets tougher from now,' he said. 'I've played a lot of tough matches already. Now it only gets tougher.
'There's still lots of matches to be played and lots of matches to be won.
'I'm going to play point-for-point as always, and I'm really happy with how I pulled up after the (Jarry) match.
'My body feels good, and I'm in a good place. I've been hitting the ball well. I'm happy to be sure, but (still) a long way away.'
Alcaraz is taking nothing for granted, insisting facing Norrie on home soil is 'almost a nightmare'.
Norrie has beaten the world number two twice, including their last meeting in the final in Rio two years ago.
'First of all, facing Cam is always really, really difficult,' said Alcaraz. 'We had really difficult battles already.
'Yeah, 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-finals playing great tennis because I've seen him practice.
'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.'
Norrie is now the last home player left in either draw after Sonay Kartal's defeat by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova earlier on Sunday.
'I would have liked to have seen some more guys go deeper,' he added. 'Obviously we had a lot of wins in the first couple of rounds.
'But I'm not really caring too much if I'm the last Brit standing or if they're all here.
'It would be nice to have a few more to kind of deflect and have lots of people to cheer for, and I think in years to come that's going to be the case.
'I'm just taking care of my business and really enjoying my tennis at the moment.'