- The 28-year-old was in the best form of his season against Draper on Court No. 1.
Cameron Norrie pulled off the second British upset of the day by beating Jack Draper (who replaced him as British number one this month) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on Thursday night.
Following British No. 2 Harriet Dart’s triumph over Katie Boulter earlier in the day on the same No. 1 court, Norrie recorded a convincing victory on home soil. But unlike in the women’s battle, the 28-year-old was able to secure her victory in straight sets.
The recently ousted British No. 1 has been enduring a woeful run of form, crashing out of both Queen’s Club and Eastbourne in the first round on grass and failing to string together a series of wins since reaching the semi-final of the Rio de Janeiro Open in February.
By contrast, Draper has been a rising star, with his first grass-court title in Stuttgart coming in the same week as his coronation as Britain’s best. Coupled with a final win against Carlos Alcaraz and a step up to win a five-set first-round match on Andy Murray’s recently vacated Centre Court, it was hard to keep predictions at bay that the 22-year-old was primed for a breakthrough performance at SW19.
But Norrie was a semi-finalist at SW19 just two years ago, stopped only by eventual champion Novak Djokovic, and his experience was as clear as Draper’s fatigue. Draper had been taken to five sets by Elias Ymer in their first-round clash for only the third time at a Grand Slam.
Cameron Norrie knocked out new British number one Jack Draper weeks after being demoted
The 22-year-old struggled to match the 28-year-old’s level on a tough afternoon on Court No. 1.
After Norrie went 6-6 up in the first set, Draper was quickly taken down by the veteran player who pulled away in the tiebreak with a series of spirited exchanges. The former British number one let out a scream of triumph after his unreachable backhand volley which Draper, in his career, could only watch go past him as it slipped and tangled in the net.
But the roar was even louder, fists clenched, as Norrie took the set 7-6 (7-3). It was a reminder to his opponent and the undecided crowd, divided between the home favourites, that he was still in it.
Cheered on by the crowd, Norrie leapt to his chair after snatching an early break from Draper in the second set. Draper, off balance from the start of the tiebreak, was slowed by unfocused shots that Norrie, in control, was able to capitalise on.
Norrie was quickly four games up, and Draper was left contemplating who it really was that had come into this tie as the underdog.
Draper was finally able to hold serve and with some effort managed to get a life-saving break that helped him regain confidence and aggression back into his game.
The comeback was short-lived, however, as Norrie took the second set with a cool head, which later helped him to ward off a threat from Draper in the fourth game of the third; the pair traded deuces until the younger player sent his backhand wide.
Norrie said he had felt like the “underdog” but showed his class in his dominant display.
As Norrie took a lead in that game, Draper leaned over and put his hands on his head. Little was going right for an opponent for whom nothing was going wrong.
Perhaps conscious of this, Draper opened up and began to play with nothing to lose, stopping Norrie in his tracks and going 5-2 up. But Norrie’s quality continued to shine as he chased Draper to a second tiebreak and showed that Draper’s position is not assured for long.