Cameron Norrie refuses to blame injury for Miami Open exit

ATP Tour

James Richardson
March 26, 2023

British No 1 Cameron Norrie insisted that the injury that required treatment during his defeat to Gregoire Barrere wasn’t a factor in the result.

Norrie suffered a second round exit at the hands of Barrere, which has left Great Britain without a singles player in the men’s or women’s side of the draw.

He admitted that he was a bit shocked to have been defeated at this early stage of the tournament.

“I’m in a bit of a state of shock,” he said.

“I had prepared well and was expecting a good run here. I’ve got to put this behind me quickly.”

Norrie is not suffering any lingering effects from a jarred ankle.

“I jammed it at 4-1 in the second but I had been feeling fine, it wasn’t a factor,” he said.

British No 2 Dan Evans also suffered defeat in the second round in Miami.

“I feel pretty good when I’ve been on the court and I’ve been practising well.

“I’ve been missing a lot of break points in my matches and normally I’m pretty good at that, I think I was in the top ten for break points converted last year.

“I’ve not had something like this before, but at least I’m getting chances. When you’re not winning matches you don’t get a chance to much more chance to get back on the horse, no momentum, so it’s difficult.

“I did a good job in the first set and then he played pretty well, one way traffic. I’ve not really got going this season and it’s frustrating.”

Andy Murray, Kyle Edmund and Emma Raducanu had all lost in the first round after four further Brits failed to make it through the qualifying tournament.

Murray admitted that the change of balls and court speed between the two Sunshine Double events makes March a challenging month on the ATP Tour.

“I always remember early in my career coming from Indian Wells and feeling like the balls used to get quite small there.

“It was very lively, fast conditions, through the air. Obviously, the court was always quite slow.

“Then I would come to Miami, and the first few practices there it would be like you feel like you were hitting the ball short.

“The ball wasn’t flying through the air as much, whereas it’s now the complete opposite.

“The courts, in my opinion, here are significantly faster, much bouncier, balls are quicker here.

“Yeah, quite interesting for me because that was not the case in the past. But, yeah, I do think having more consistency with the balls would help. [I have] been having that conversation for quite a long time.”

Cameron Norrie