Cameron Norrie faces the daunting task of meeting Roger Federer on Centre Court on Saturday but his coach is confident he’s capable of an almighty upset.
Norrie, the British No. 2, has been one of the standout players on the ATP Tour this season, chalking up 31 match wins.
Two of those have already come at Wimbledon as he booked his spot in the third round for the first time and his reward is the daunting task of facing 20-time Grand Slam champion Federer.
Norrie admitted that if ever there was a time to face Federer at Wimbledon it’s this.
Federer has returned to competitive tennis this season after two rounds of knee surgery and is approaching his 40th birthday in August.
But still, Team Norrie recognise just how tough it will be to defeat the all-time great on his favourite court.
‘Cam has to play one of his best matches: playing Roger on that court is like playing Rafa [Nadal] on Chatrier or Novak [Djokovic] on the Rod Laver,’ said Norrie’s coach Facundo Lugones.
‘Probably the top three toughest challenges in tennis. So he will have to play unbelievably well and tennis wise serve good. He has been serving good. It’s the two best things he has been doing lately.
‘And try to make it as physical as possible. Like he does with everyone. Play long points.
‘Don’t let him dictate and make it a physical battle. He will have to play well in the big moments otherwise you have no chance with Federer.’
Will they be targeting Federer physically because they sense he’s vulnerable?
‘No, no. Cam tries to do that against anyone,’ said Lugones. ‘He likes to play physical matches even if the other guy is as fit as he is.
‘Against [Diego] Schwartzman, who he played at the US Open, he tried to make it as physically and not playing short points. And Schwartzman is probably the most physical guy on Tour.
‘Obviously Roger is probably not in his best shape compared to 2-3 years ago but it is not because it is Fed, we try to make it physical with everyone and that is where Cam plays his best. Nothing to do with Roger’s physical state.’
Norrie runs 10k in around 38 minutes and is well known for his ability to grind in big matches but there were question marks over how far he could go in the game from a tennis standpoint.
But that view is being dramatically altered this season as Norrie has added consistency and bite to his game.
In the ATP Race to Turin – the rankings system that tracks results purely in a calendar year – Norrie is 12th. So what is the goal now?
‘Every player wants to aim for No.1,’ added Lugones. ‘You don’t want to aim for anything less.
‘It is tough to tell a number or a number you would like. If you can keep pushing and improving like he is every week and stays hungry and healthy, you want to go to all the way to the top.
‘You work for that, if you don’t get it, then fine. At least you did everything possible. I don’t want to say a number but he is on track to do a lot of things that look very, very hard two or three years ago.
‘I never like to put a number on it because it doesn’t matter. He wants to get better and win matches and see what happens.’
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