When Andy Murray first won Wimbledon a decade ago, he would drive to and from the courts in an old Volkswagen Polo.
Cameron Norrie’s mode of transport is even more unassuming. Each morning, he hops on the saddle of his bike from the home in Southfields he is renting and pedals to the courts, stopping for a coffee each time.
As a semi-finalist last year, the recognition may be more frequent on his two-wheel journey, but he can still get around the environs of SW19 relatively unnoticed.
“It’s pretty chill,” is his take, which reflects his own mood in the build-up to Wimbledon. “People are used to seeing way more famous people around than me in London and they’re going to see a lot of players in and around Wimbledon.
“Cycling is just quicker, it’s a good warm-up there. I’m just doing what I can to get a couple less cars on the road.”
The past week has been spent either on Wimbledon’s practice courts or else at the exhibition event at Hurlingham in order to fine-tune his preparations for his home grand slam.
And despite being British No1, there is still less fanfare around him than two-time champion Murray, who remains a constant sounding board for Norrie.
“He’s always got interesting things to say,” he says of the British No3. “I’m always asking him about different scenarios and matches he’s played and how he goes about his business.
“I love the way that he’s just so passionate about tennis. He gives everything to tennis and leaves nothing unturned. It’s great to see him still playing a lot of tournaments and loving it.”
The same could be said of Norrie, one of the fittest and hardest-working players on tour, but he has only had one grand slam run of note, his passage to the last four of Wimbledon a year ago.
Of whether he can win it this year, he says: “I have to believe that. I’m right up there. I’m going to have to up my game in the slams, but I really have a chance. My name’s in there.
“I would take any grand slam at this point. I’m not fussy, but with lots of history here, this would be a special one to win.”
Murray aside, Norrie, who opens his Wimbledon ambitions against Tomas Machac on Tuesday, loves tapping into the minds of other sports stars. A regular listener to audio books and podcasts, his most recent was Surf Mastery, with All Black legend Sir John Kirwan featuring as the weekly guest.
A keen surfer himself, he takes to the water on the rare occasions his playing and training schedule allows. The ATP Tour schedule can be a punishing one, but the world No13 relishes it.
“It’s relentless and I love it,” he says. “It’s part of the game, you have to fully embrace it and put everything aside in life to prioritise tennis. It’s the only way to approach it and get better day in, day out. I just can’t prioritise other things in life, but I love it, I’m addicted to it.”
The addiction is paying off. A relatively late bloomer, he now has five ATP Tour titles to his name — most recently in winning the Rio Open against Carlos Alcaraz back in February.
I know I have the level to play with Djokovic.
In his mind, Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic are the two stand-outs for Wimbledon, having chopped and changed the No1 spot this year. Norrie put Djokovic under pressure in last year’s semi-final, taking the first set before the Serbian ran away with the match.
Casting his mind back, he recalled: ‘It was good to win that first set, as I know I have the level to play with him, but I couldn’t maintain that. He’s very tough to beat, you have to play at such a high level.”
Was the defeat down to the fact he dropped his standards or Djokovic took his game to another level? “I think a bit of both in that match. I gave him a few too many free points and served so well. I didn’t get much change to get back in the match and, over five sets, that gets difficult.”
As for the spotlight being more on him last year — both media and British public wise — he revels in it.
“Any tennis player, they love that atmosphere,” he said of Wimbledon 2022. “You have to embrace the loudness of it. There are different moments in a match and the momentum of the match is changing. The crowd play a huge part in that — it can change the mood of the match. You have to use that to your advantage.”
At the recent French Open, he was on the other end of it as he took on two Frenchman — Benoit Paire and Lucas Pouille — in his opening two matches and won both. Everything he did, from a queried line-call to a retaken ball toss, was jumped upon by the Parisian crowd. He ignored it all, his aim “not trying to give them too much to work with”.
At Wimbledon, he will happily whip the crowd into a frenzy, but his primary focus is having fun.
“Enjoying my tennis, that’s the most important thing,” he said, “But this is a surface I see myself regularly playing well on. I have to believe.”
