Cameron Norrie is the last Brit standing in Wimbledon 2022, having made it through to the his first ever grand slam semi-final clash.
He became the first British man to reach the quarter-finals since Sir Andy Murray in 2017, and is about to become just the fourth British man to play in the Wimbledon semi-final in the Open Era when he faces defending Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic. See the Wimbledon semi-final start time and TV details here.
Anyone who has listened to Great Britain competitor Norrie, aged 26, during a TV interview may be curious as to his background, with the tennis star having enjoyed a cross-continent upbringing.
Here's the backstory of British tennis' No. 1, who is currently ranked 12th in the world:
Read more: Cameron Norrie v Novak Djokovic Wimbledon start time and TV channel info
Where is Cameron Norrie from? Is he Scottish or Welsh?
Cameron Norrie, 26, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in August 1995, to microbiologist parents. His Scottish dad David, who is from Glasgow, is a huge Rangers FC fan and has a "filthy" Scottish accent according to his son, and his Welsh mum Helen is from Cardiff.
Helen's dad Glyn Williams, the former chief sub-editor of our print title, the Western Mail newspaper, was born in the Welsh capital in 1928 and brought up in Adamsdown. He studied at Harvard Business School before becoming a reporter for newspapers in Breconshire and Montgomeryshire, then working for the Western Mail from 1955 to 1966 until joining South Africa's Daily Dispatch. You can read more about that here.
Cameron's sister Bronwen told the BBC: "My mother's parents [Glyn and Joan Williams] lived in Cardiff until their mid-30s. My grandfather worked for the Western Mail in Cardiff but he, my grandmother and the rest of the family emigrated to South Africa."
Cameron's parents spent the first three years of Cameron's life in South Africa before relocating to New Zealand with his sister Bronwen following a burglary. Norrie was then raised in Auckland and turned out for New Zealand between 2010 and 2013 when he became a professional tennis player before switching to represent Great Britain.
Read more: Wimbledon star Cameron Norrie's Welsh roots and his grandad's job working for the Western Mail
The Newcastle United fan then moved to London aged 16 where he lived for three years training full-time at the National Tennis Centre. He then jetted off to America after securing a tennis scholarship at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, where he studied sociology and played tennis for his college team "The Horned Frogs" from 2014 to 2017. He then ended his academic studies to try his luck on the ATP tour, however he has pinpointed a mishap during his college days as a major turning point in his career.
He revealed he had crashed his moped in his second year after "a pretty big night and definitely a couple too many", leading to six stitches and missing out on a professional tournament which left his coach furious.
Of the wake-up call, Norrie said: "It was a realisation that I was kind of not doing it the way I wanted to do it and making not the best decisions. I was going out more than I probably should have been, like a typical student there at TCU, enjoying myself a lot. After that the coaches really kicked me into gear and I was definitely more professional after that. I grew up a lot after that. From then on, I was like, OK, I want to play tennis and commit to that and do that."
Norrie, who admitted he would have worked in real estate had it not been for tennis, now lives in Putney, south-west London.
In a previous interview ahead of the British and Irish Lions' 2017 tour of New Zealand, Norrie admitted he would support the All Blacks.
He once had to correct broadcaster John Inverdale over being described as English. The TV presenter had asked: "Do your friends from New Zealand, and from America, do they say you’re starting to sound more English now when you talk to them?” But Norrie replied: "I’m not English, I prefer to say British because of the Scots thing...” He has previously described himself as "pretty Scottish", adding: "My dad was born in Glasgow, my mum in Cardiff. I've been to Scotland a few times."
In the same interview back in 2018, after advancing to the second round of the French Open, Norrie said of his parents: "They are still living in New Zealand at the moment so it’s actually quite tough to see them but they have been very good, very understanding. They’ve listened to the coaches and their advice so they’ve been quite stand-offish, but they’ve been very supportive and they want the best for me. But it’s nice to have them here and be able to switch off from tennis a little bit. They’ve been great for me and I love having them here and around."
His mother Helen, who along with her husband played squad to university level, told how Norrie began playing tennis with a modified squash racquet, saying: "When Cameron was four or five, we cut down one of my old squash rackets so it looked a bit like a lollipop. We used a big bouncy plastic ball and drew a line in the concrete of the driveway for the net. He would keep score and he just wanted to play all the time."
Who is Cameron Norrie's girlfriend?
Norrie has been cheered on at Wimbledon by his girlfriend Louise Jacobi, a New Yorker who is a textiles designer who worked for Calvin Klein before joining New York-based Please Don't Touch as a textiles consultant. The graduate of the prestigious Central St Martins in London is listed on the website as its founder and creative director.
Norrie's tennis rise and Wimbledon 2022
Norrie is in the last-four of Wimbledon 2022 and is the last Brit standing.
He had eased past Spain's Pablo Andujar in the opening round, before a hard-fought five-set win over Jaume Munar saw him through round two. He then swept aside Steve Johnson before seeing off number 30 seed, American Tommy Paul, to advance to the last eight.
He now faces the biggest match of his career when he takes on Serbia's Novak Djokovic in the semi-final on Friday, July 8, opposing the world No. 3 and 20-time Grand Slam winner.
Corrie's remarkable Wimbledon campaign is the culmination of a successful rise for Norrie over the past year, which saw him rise to Britain's number one male player in October 2021.
It's a far cry from a frustrating Wimbledon 2021 experience, where he was knocked out by Roger Federer in a four-set clash. Since then, he has gone from strength to strength and broke into the world's top 10 for the first time and win his biggest title to date, the Indian Wells Masters.
