Cam’s the man: Norrie poised to defend Indian Wells title
When the first serve of the Indian Wells Masters gets walloped next week, Great Britain will have a defending champion – Cameron Norrie – in the tournament for the first time.
Cameron Norrie won his maiden ATP Tour Masters 1000 event last year when he overcame Nikoloz Basilashvili 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in what many see as the unofficial fifth Grand Slam.
The Indian Wells Masters takes place in California, usually in spring in between the Australian and French Opens, but last year was held in October after the US Open as a result of pandemic disruption.
Norrie’s victory was the highlight of the current British No1’s best year yet, in which he also reached the third round of three out of four of the Slams.
Norrie solid says Rafa
Current Australian Open champion Rafael Nadal, who beat Norrie 6-4, 6-4 in the final of the Mexican Open last weekend, spoke highly of the 26-year-old.
“Cameron is a solid player, a very tricky player who makes you feel uncomfortable,” he said.
Such praise from one of the Big Three will be music to Norrie’s ears, but his experience of finals on the tour is nothing new.
A consistent player who reached six of them in the 2021 calendar year, he beat the likes of then-world No4 Dominic Thiem in Lyon, Denis Shapovalov and Nick Kyrgios along the way.
He won his first title at the Los Cabos Open, Mexico in July before his triumph at Indian Wells in the autumn.
Just two full months into this year Norrie has already notched up his first title, his third in all, at the Delray Beach Open, where he beat American Reilly Opelka 7-6, 7-6.
And despite the loss to Nadal, he’s proving he is a stayer at the highest level.
Staying power
Next for the 26-year-old South Africa-born Brit will be to prove his power at a Grand Slam and – ultimately – perhaps replicate the success of Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray.
Winning a Grand Slam is the pinnacle but being a victor at Indian Wells isn’t too shoddy an achievement. Retaining his title this year, however, will be supremely difficult.
The 2021 edition of the tournament was made up exclusively of players who had not won it before, so there was always going to be a new defending champion.
Tough road ahead
Next week, though, Norrie could come up against the likes of Novak Djokovic, who will be out to win back the No1 world ranking he lost last month to Daniil Medvedev. The Russian and Nadal will also be present.
With the tournament returning to its traditional showpiece time frame in the Californian spring, though, there’s no better time for Norrie to set down a marker before the calendar transitions from the hard courts and into the clay and grass season.
The tournament starts on Monday with the final on 20 March.