'More mistakes, for the right reason' – Laura Robson praises brave Cameron Norrie after Australian Open exit

Published 22/01/2024 at 12:56 GMT

British No. 1 Cameron Norrie came within a whisker of landing one of the biggest wins of his career, falling just short in a thrilling five-set battle with Alexander Zverev. Norrie had not even won a set in four previous meetings with the German but was superb as he pushed the match to a final set tie-break, only for his level to drop in a nightmare finale as his rival raced home.

'He left it all out there' - Robson on Norrie's valiant performance

Laura Robson praised Cameron Norrie for his fearless display despite losing a five-set thriller to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open, admitting that the Brit's team "looked a little bit devastated" with the defeat.

Norrie twice battled back from a set down to force a final set tie-break, where the British No. 1 finally came unstuck as Zverev raced home for a 7-5 3-6 6-3 4-6 7-6(3) win.

The 28-year-old has clearly added greater variety and attacking intentions to his game in the off-season, with Norrie keeping Zverev guessing throughout with a fine array of shot-making.

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Although his unforced error count was high, particularly on the forehand wing, he continued to take the match to Zverev and almost got his reward.

"He can be so proud of himself with the way he played this whole tournament," said Robson.

"The way he’s started this year off, recognising all the things he could have done differently over the last year, coming out, and putting them to work instantly. That’s been the most impressive thing for me.

"Sometimes, when you work on being more aggressive in the off-season and work on coming forward, it’s so hard to deliver it in a match, where you think, ‘Oh, the scoreline is 30-30, it’s deuce, it’s maybe not the right time’.

"But he committed to it and accepted that he was going to make some more mistakes, but that was for the right reasons.

"I saw his coach and everyone looked a little bit devastated. They’re so proud of him because he left it all out there."

Norrie claimed a first win over Casper Ruud in the third round, while he also roared back from two sets down to beat Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri in the second round.

'Less predictable, more dangerous' - Henman on Norrie's new weapons

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It was Norrie's first appearance in the last 16 at Melbourne and gives him "lots to build on for the rest of the year", according to Tim Henman.

"Cam will be particularly disappointed because he did so much good work. He showed how capable he is coming forward. He came forward nearly 60 times in this match and winning 39 of those points," said Henman.

"That’s something we haven’t necessarily seen. It was so effective against Casper Ruud. Once it got to that fifth set tie-break, it was a flip of a coin.

"We know that Cam can play so consistently with that heavy forehand and flat backhand but if you’re going to add a string to your bow and bring other attributes, you’ve got to do it on the match court and he’s worked on that in the off-season and it got him a great win against Casper Ruud, who he’d never beaten before.

"It got him incredibly close against Zverev and hopefully this is something that he can build on because it makes him a more complete player. It makes him less predictable and more dangerous. Really disappointing that he couldn’t find a way past Zverev, but lots to build on for the rest of the year."

Zverev has the ominous task of facing Carlos Alcaraz in his next encounter.

Alcaraz admitted he "did almost everything perfectly" as he demolished Miomir Kecmanovic to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.