Cameron Norrie looked back to his best as he stunned British number one Jack Draper with an assured second-round win at Wimbledon. Norrie, who was displaced by the 22-year-old Draper as Britain’s leading man last month, has struggled this season with early exits at the French Open, Queen’s, and Eastbourne. However, he triumphed over an in-form Draper with a straight-sets victory, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
“It wasn’t easy coming out here today to play Jack. He’s been playing so well and we’re such good friends off the court, so we had to put that aside today,” Norrie remarked. “I felt like I was a little bit of the underdog coming in today, so I was pretty relaxed.”
Next, Norrie will face fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the third round. His victory followed another triumph for British number twos on Court One, as Harriet Dart overcame Britain’s top-ranked woman, Katie Boulter, in extraordinary fashion earlier on Thursday.
Meanwhile, British wildcard Jacob Fearnley nearly caused a major upset against seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The 22-year-old Scot managed to take a set off Djokovic but ultimately fell short, losing 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 in a tense Centre Court match. “All in all, this match potentially deserved to go into a fifth, particularly with the way he played in the fourth. But I’m very glad it didn’t,” said Djokovic, who is still recovering from knee surgery last month.
