Australian Open 2024: Cam Norrie stuns 11th seed Casper Ruud to reach fourth round for the first time in Melbourne
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Day seven at the Australian Open gifted us with one of the most entertaining matches of the week so far, with British No.1 Cam Norrie downing Casper Ruud in four sets to book his spot in the fourth round at Melbourne Park for the first time in his career.
Norrie marked his best Grand Slam win by ranking to date, after clinching a 5-4, 6-7(9), 6-4 win over world No.11 Ruud in an epic battle that spanned over three hours.
Prior to this, he had only won one of the 11 matches he contested against top 20 players at the Grand Slams.
It was an impressive display from the 28-year-old who was rallied on by a lively Aussie crowd on the John Cain Arena, with a sea of British flags lining the 10,500 seats in the arena.
“It’s honestly so special, especially on this court” a visibly beaming Norrie said about reaching the last 16. “I think I’ve only practiced once on this court, and I didn’t realise there would be this atmosphere and you guys were behind me from the beginning.
“I had to play really brave, and I almost won that second set, but Casper served well and fought hard, and I didn’t really let it bother me. It was a good mental performance to come out with a lot of energy in the third set and I kept a really good level throughout the match. I really enjoyed it and stuck to my game plan, and I got through."
It was clear from the get-go that Norrie was looking to come forward to the net as much as possible and that proved a vital tactic to his success. The Brit won a remarkable 41/55 points at the net and hit a sensational 62 winners across the match.
“I’ve been working really hard in the off season and trying to be a little bit more aggressive, and I managed to kind of free up in the match today and really let go. I was coming forward a lot and I volleyed really well today and that really got me through. I managed to finish a lot of points off at the net and serve really well and mange my service games.
"But honestly, I was just enjoying myself up there and playing free and the crowd, you guys were amazing, a lot of support all over the place."
Next up, Norrie will face the winner of Alexander Zverev and world No.91 Alex Michelsen, and admitted he'll be keeping a close eye on the match to determine his opponent in the next round, “I’ll watch it, I’ve been watching all the matches" Norrie added.
"I’ll definitely enjoy today, get out and practice tomorrow and work on my game. I’m really pleased to be through, what a great match – I’ll just enjoy this one first.”
Norrie’s fourth round match will be played on Monday 22 January, with the time to still be confirmed.
Elsewhere, British tennis players also reigned victorious in the doubles, with Lloyd Glasspool confirming his spot in the men's doubles third round and Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski winning their opening matches in the mixed doubles draw.
Australian Open Britwatch
From juniors to wheelchair draws - track all the Brits' results and draws from this year's Australian Open.
