THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

July 8, 2025

Cameron Norrie

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/C. Norrie

6-2, 6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Cam, tough one today. Could you just talk a little bit about the match, please?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, it was a tough match obviously going in being the underdog. I felt like Charlie took care of his service games really, really well. The few chances that I had, he served his way out of trouble.

Yeah, it was a good experience to play probably the best player in the world at the moment, most confident player on his best surface.

I enjoyed the match a lot. Yeah, was not able to take my chances today, and it showed in the score.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. He played an expectational level today. He plays Taylor Fritz now. Can you see anyone stopping him this week?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I mean, I think when he's enjoying his tennis like he did today, and he served really, really well. I think that's improved a lot. Obviously he's playing with a lot of confidence. Whenever I had a chance, he literally just hit the spot on the serve, or I had a good return, and he put the ball in an awkward part of the court. He was very, very good on taking chances on my serve. I was not that sharp.

I think he is the favorite, for sure. His level was unreal. I felt like a lot of the time today if I didn't do enough with the ball, he was going to punish me with a lot of his different options, with power. He's got the drop as well available.

So I think I was missing a little bit more because I was pressing a bit more than usual, but I think that's credit to him, his physicality, his movement and power.

Q. Could you expand on the experience of facing him? You've played some of the all-time greats in the game. Compared to the experience of playing those guys...

CAMERON NORRIE: I think for me, it was one of the bigger matches in my career. I'm hitting the ball well. I was feeling good before the match.

I think obviously he's won four slams already. For him, it's kind of just another match. I think the experience for him was in his favor obviously with that.

Yeah, I just wanted to enjoy the match. I wanted to compete as hard as I can. I knew I had to take my chances to have a chance against him, and I didn't do that. He played really well in those big moments.

I felt that the match was a little bit quicker than I would have liked. It was really tough to kind of make it the way I wanted to and play my game style against him. Yeah, it was all happening very quickly.

Amazing, amazing experience. He played a very high level. I think if you asked him, he would agree with that. Yeah, it was good fun. Those are the kind of matches that you want to think about and you want to play. You do all the hard work, you do extra stuff with your coach, you do extra fitness, and you do all these things to get ready for matches like this.

I wanted to just go out there, no excuses, just play. I did that. He was too good today. I fought till the last point, so I can be proud.

Q. What are the positives you'll a take from the tournament as a whole?

CAMERON NORRIE: I think there's a lot of positives. I think most of all was how I went about my business in the tournament, how I enjoyed all the moments, all the different matches.

Yeah, I think just so much fun. I felt really free on the court. I think my ability to hold my concentration, especially in that Jarry match where I could have gone away at any moment, I can take so much confidence from that. It's almost like I'd done a mini pre-season in that match. I can take a lot from that match. I know I have the ability to concentrate for that period of time in a best-of-five match.

For me, it was a lot of fun. For me, obviously a lot of tough moments I had to get through even to make the quarterfinals. Especially I had to run a lot. Yeah, it was a nice, enjoyable week and a half for me.

Q. Obviously you've had some tough times over the last year with the injury and then not getting the results you want. Do you feel you're back at your best now, on the right track?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I think it's all kind of coming together. I told you guys that I was hitting the ball well all year. I wanted it to happen. I think actually winning the matches and actually going through these experiences, you can take so much confidence from this.

I want to just continue to play with confidence. Yeah, I feel like I've been through a lot of tough moments in this week and a half and a lot of different kind of players and being the favorite, being the underdog in different scenarios. I think I've tested myself in all different aspects of the game, which is huge. I've always come out on the positive side.

Yeah, I really feel like I'm enjoying my tennis a lot. I think that's most important. Obviously I didn't play at all from this period onwards last year. I can just keep pushing kind of for my ranking and for my level is there. I just want to make sure I do some good work in the heat and get used to the tough conditions in the States.

I think it's important at this period of time to stay mentally fresh. I want to do that by just keep enjoying my tennis.

Q. You talked a lot about your attitude, your outlook. What are you happy about within your game? What's pleased you?

CAMERON NORRIE: I think I'm most pleased with just I'm playing every point, playing point for point, not giving too much away. I'm putting the ball in difficult spots. I'm bringing my own energy. I'm playing the big points on my terms and doing the fundamentals well. A lot of second-serve returns in the court.

I think I saw a stat. I was, like, third on tour for second-serve points won. I want to continue with that. I think that's a stat where if I'm playing well and feeling the ball good, that's quite high for me. So I think that's an important one, the second-serve points won.

Overall, like I said, I'm just enjoying everything and enjoying my life on the tour, enjoying off the court as much as I can. I think just having a good perspective of just not putting too much pressure on yourself. Obviously tennis is one of the most important things in my life, but I want to just keep doing other things and keep enjoying with my friends and family and these moments bringing us all together. I think that's important and going out there and enjoying your tennis.

If I was a young kid, 12 or 13 years old, and I saw myself playing quarterfinals of Grand Slams and not enjoying it, being pissed off or making excuses, I think that would be tough.

I'm just enjoying it as much as I can, and having a good perspective I think has been important in the last few months and a little bit longer than that. So it's been really good.

Q. You were the underdog today, but your head-to-head isn't actually that bad against Carlos. It's your first clash with him on grass. Would you say this is his best surface? About yourself, was there a bit of mental fatigue after Jarry a couple days ago?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, going into the match, I knew I had to play well. I think yes, for sure, it's his best surface. The way he manages service games, the way he mixed up his serve was impressive and the different options he has.

I think some of the longer rallies, maybe we were 50/50 or he was winning most of them. Yeah, it's difficult to get him off balance. You respect his movement a lot. You tend to overplay in some moments. I did that slightly on some first balls today.

Yeah, he played the match on his terms. It showed in the score. Yeah, it was a really tough match.

What was the end of the question?

Q. Mental fatigue.

CAMERON NORRIE: I was talking with my team. It would have been nice to win in straight sets and get the match point against Jarry. I think what I had to go through to win that match, I can take so much confidence. Like I said, it's almost like another pre-season I can add to my repertoire and my mental game. I think that's a huge one.

Yeah, I think, yeah, going into today, I was feeling good. I rested yesterday. I think it's normal. I played four sets a few times, five sets. I think it was quite normal to feel a little bit of fatigued.

I was really up for it. No, I gave it my best. There's no stone unturned I could change.

Q. Of course you talked about the second-serve points won. Carlos was returning extremely well. Perhaps the statistics don't show that. Going forward, would you like to add a little more pace on your serve?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I think I was more talking about my return, when I'm returning second serves. I think Charlie did a really good job from the beginning to stand up on my second serve and put a lot of pressure, and I think I made a good adjustment serving a bit more body and going after my second a little bit more.

I was just missing a few first balls as well, which I hadn't done previously in the tournament. I think that was due to kind of respecting his movement a lot.

Yeah, I think he's returning unbelievably well. Just his talent level and full stretch and talent when he's under pressure just to put the ball deep, and to make yourself have another go every time, it wears on you a little bit.

Yeah, he's returning well, playing with a lot of confidence, as you can see.

Q. Is it scary when you think Carlos is 22 and how many slams he can win? He's got another 15 years of this, what records he could set.

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, I think he makes it look quite easy because he's enjoying it so much. I think he played very well today, but I don't think it was like I played unreal. I completely maxed out. I think it was a decent 8 out of 10 for him. I see it quite repeatable for him. He's just got so many options on his different shots.

I don't see why not. If you are trying to compare him and Rafa, it's a very different player. But yeah, if I see him enjoying his tennis this much, I don't know see why not he can continue doing this.

Yeah, he was impressive today. Looking forward to see how he guess the rest of the tournament, obviously being the favorite. I don't think in the past he's been a big favorite from the beginning of the tournament. So we'll see.

Q. What was it like as the last Brit on Centre Court? A few times you celebrated by saying, 'Vamos'. Is that your normal celebration, or was that for Carlos' sake?

CAMERON NORRIE: It was so nice to play on the Centre Court. It's so special, obviously walking through the members' part and walking out onto the court. It was a good atmosphere and got loud at some moments.

No, my coach is Argentinian. I was saying kind of 'vamos' the whole tournament. Just trying to bring myself energy. Yeah, it was tough to hold serves while I was doing that.

Yeah, it was an amazing experience, another one to add. Hopefully in the next quarterfinal that I play, if I do play one, I can be a little bit more prepared and know I got the level. So a good experience, for sure.

Q. A lot of the talk coming into this tournament about home hopes were on people like Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu. Do you think you were overlooked by the public and media?

CAMERON NORRIE: Yeah, honestly I don't care about that. It would have been nice to see them, or Jack at least, go deeper. It would have been nice to see. I think he would have liked that, too. He's one of the best players in the world at the moment.

For me, no, I was just concentrated on myself. I was feeling very relaxed before the tournament. I was hitting the ball well. Obviously it would have been nice to have a few more matches on the grass.

I had a really tough draw. I was playing Bautista Agut. He made a good run in Queen's. I was trying to take it a match at a time. I'm really happy with how I enjoyed. I'm not really thinking about that stuff too much.

Yeah, I'm just happy to be enjoying my tennis more than anything. I'm not caring about who else is doing well. It would be nice to see that. But no, I was happy with the way I was enjoying my tennis.