Former British No 1s lead Cameron Norrie plaudits, saying ‘it doesn’t get much better than this’ for GB tennis

Tennis News
Cameron Norrie with the BNP Paribas Open trophy

Just a few weeks ago the British tennis community “wondered what would happen when Andy Murray finished”, but now Britain has its first-ever BNP Paribas Open male champion in Cameron Norrie while Emma Raducanu is the US Open champion.

In September, Raducanu became the first British woman to win a Grand Slam in 44 years when she came through qualifying to win at Flushing Meadows while on Sunday Norrie broke Great Britain’s trophy duck in the singles in Indian Wells as he beat Nikoloz Basilashvili .

It was the biggest title of Norrie’s career with his only previous trophy coming at the ATP 250 event in Los Cabos earlier this year. The win also helped him to climb to a career-high of 15 in the ATP Rankings.

Naturally former British No 1 Greg Rusedski is impressed with Norrie and he believes the success of the 26-year-old alongside Raducanu’s US Open title came at the right time for British tennis.

“What an incredible performance. He was down and out for a set and half but found a way to turn it around,” he said.

“It’s great to finally see a British player win this title in Indian Wells. What a moment. I couldn’t be more thrilled for him, he’s such a pro.

“It was the 5-4 game in the second set when everything turned around. He played two of the best points and went from strength to strength. In the final set Basilashvili made all of the unforced errors. Cam refused to miss and definitely deserves this title.

“It’s incredible to think what just happened. We were all wondering what would happen when Andy Murray finished, but we could have a top 10 player by the end of the season and then you have (Emma) Raducanu winning the US Open.

“It doesn’t get much better than this.”

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Norrie, who replaced Dan Evans the British No 1 with his run in California, will no doubt set his sights on the top 10 while he is still in with a shout of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin.

Tim Henman hailed Norrie as a “fantastic role model”.

“If you look at the points he’s been accumulating, top 10 is realistic,” he said.

“He’s 15 in the rankings now, but in the race he’s knocking on the door of the top 10, especially if he can play well at a couple of indoor tournaments. It emphasises the importance of Paris (Masters) at the end of the year with 1000 points up for grabs. It’s amazing that Cam could be a top 10 player at some stage.

“It’s an unbelievable achievement. It’s just reward for all the hard work. Turin is now a realistic opportunity.

“He’s a fantastic role model. He puts in the work and maximises his potential.”

Cameron Norrie Greg Rusedski Tim Henman

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