It didn’t take long for Cam Norrie to feel the benefits of his primetime exploits that took him to the Wimbledon semifinals.
After going about his daily business around his flat in Putney, the 26-year-old found that losing his relative anonymity ahead of this summer’s championships had its advantages. For starters, he was offered freebies.
‘It was funny. You go down to get coffee and the barista recognizes you,” says the British No. 1, who returns to the battlefield of the tour in Mexico next week.
Cam Norrie rose to fame after his recent primetime exploits at Wimbledon
“It was like, ‘Oh, don’t worry about paying today, it’s fine,’ and I said, ‘Mate, I can pay for it, it’s fine.’
“I went to my dry cleaners and they said, ‘Ah, great Wimbledon, you know what – don’t worry about it this time,’ and I said, ‘Man, it’s fine, I can pay for it.’
‘A few times I went for breakfast and people asked for pictures and congratulated me in a very nice way. It’s cool that people also watched and supported and I got some recognition.
‘After this Wimbledon many more people will know who I am. It’s great for me, but it doesn’t change much. I want to keep pushing, keep improving.’
If that’s anything to you, it’s how many people still watch free-to-air TV and how people love a winner, even if Norrie ended up falling to champion Novak Djokovic in four sets on the second Friday.
The downside of Wimbledon is that there were no ranking points this year due to the ban on Russian players.
If there had been, Norrie would now be in the top 10 in the world.
“It’s a little frustrating, but there’s nothing you can do about it,” he said.
“Not much has changed for me, I’m still in the main draw of all these tournaments and I’m still relatively high. But it’s a bit of a shame not to be rewarded in the rankings.
Norrie’s stunning run to the semi-finals was only ended by Serbian legend Novak Djokovic
“If you look at other Brits, Alastair Gray and Ryan Peniston won one round, Liam Broady made it to the third round. For those guys it hurts more because they are pushing to get into the Slams main draw.
“It has given me a lot of confidence to know that I can make it to the semi-finals of a Slam, even on my favorite surface.”
After a week off, Norrie left for Nice where he was practicing at the Patrick Mouratoglou academy with the world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who was banned from SW19.
Certain subjects were off limits: ‘He didn’t ask about Wimbledon and I didn’t ask him about it.
“I didn’t want to bring it up. He said he saw my match with Djokovic, that’s all.
“He’s a great practice partner and a great guy too. He is my favorite player to watch. “My coach always tries to message the best players in the world to practice with, so hopefully now we can have a little more leeway with the top men.”
Next week, Norrie will try to defend his ATP title in Mexico’s Los Cabos before heading to the Canadian and Cincinnati Opens, then the US Open, in late August.
He will then head straight to his father’s hometown of Glasgow, where he will lead a strong GB team for the Davis Cup qualifying group against the Netherlands, USA and Kazakhstan from September 13.
New Zealand-born Norrie would now be in the top 10 if Wimbledon kept his ranking points
He’s embarking on this next leg of his career after first verifying his consistent results year-round with a deep run on a major.
“I played in the biggest games of my career so far. To play the level I did, to start like that (win the first set) against the best player in the world on grass, the most important thing is that I know I can do it at Slams.”
Norrie, who has family in Aberdeen, hopes to see Rangers play while in Glasgow: ‘I’d love to. My father is a diehard fan. When I was young he was like, you have to support Rangers, you have to wear blue most of the time!
“I’ve never been to a live game. When the time is right, I’d like to go. I don’t think Leon Smith (GB Davis Cup captain) will be joining me – he’s a huge Celtic fan!’
Tickets for the Davis Cup in Glasgow are available at https://daviscupfinals.lta.org.uk