LAST man standing Cam Norrie will take the Union Jack into round four of Wimbledon after seeing off Italian Mattia Bellucci on Court One.
Former British number one Norrie looked to be yesterday’s man as he fell into the shadow of Jack Draper, who reached the semis at Flushing Meadows while his compatriot was at home nursing injuries.
But while Draper was a second round casualty, Norrie, 29, who reached the last four on the SW19 lawns in 2022, might be on course for a repeat as he gained revenge for his April defeat in Monaco with a hard-fought 7-6 6-4 6-3 win in two hours and 28 minutes.
It was not, by any means, a vintage performance, especially in the opening stages.
But after bouncing back from a horror start, when he was broken to love in his opening service game and faced three more break points at the start of his next, Norrie took charge.
As the Court One fans began to return after digesting Sonay Kartal’s earlier win as well as their lunch, the Brit dragged his way back into the set as he capitalised on an error-strewn Bellucci service game.
Norrie was never behind in the breaker, making the crucial mini-break with a stunning backhand pass from way behind his own baseline to nudge in front after 67 minutes.
And when he broke the Italian in the opening game of the second, taking full toll of successive Bellucci double faults, it looked like things were only heading in one direction.
Not at this Wimbledon, where you can take nothing for granted.
Norrie, 40-0 up and set to be three games to the good, dropped his service only to rapidly break back as his baseline scrambling and heavy slice prompted errors from his opponent, with his fifth ace of the match ensuring there were no further costly mistakes.
Now it was about holding his nerve and waiting for the moment.
Norrie pounced in the third game, drilling a forehand past the stranded Italian after he refused to give up on a point he should never have won.
There really was no way back and Bellucci lacked heart and hope before, after a stumble at 5-1, Norrie completed victory when his opponent overhit on his forehand once more.
Norrie urged All England Club bosses to break protocol and not move his last 16 clash on Sunday to Centre Court.
He said: “It’s impossible to say how much I love No 1 Court.
“When I saw the schedule I was really happy.
“Hopefully I can play my next match here – I don’t know, maybe play all my matches here. It was good fun.”
The last Brit man standing added: “The fans were such a big factor – I want to thank you guys for that.
“I started a bit over-confident and stole the first set. I found a way to weather the storm.
“That was probably better for me and I played a good tie-break.”
Asked about his lonely status on the men’s side, Norrie insisted: “I honestly don’t care about that too much.
“I was just enjoying playing point for point in this amazing atmosphere back on this court.
“But apparently I am the last man standing. So I will take that.”
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