Cameron Norrie's Australian Open campaign came to an end on Friday as he suffered a seventh straight defeat to Alexander Zverev, falling 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round. The British No 1, the last singles player from his nation in the tournament, played with aggressive intent but could not overcome the world No 3.
Norrie approached the net 40 times and tried to dictate play with his forehand, but Zverev's superior serve and ball speed proved decisive. The German, who had won all six previous meetings, including a five-set thriller at the same stage last year, again found a way to break Norrie's resistance. "I think I just need to get better," Norrie said. "I know I can hang with him for two hours 30 and I dropped after that."
The 30-year-old's performance was commendable despite the result. He has now lost only to top players at the past four majors: Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic at the French and US Opens, and Zverev in Melbourne. Norrie's ranking has risen from 91st nine months ago to 25th in the live rankings, and he remains positive about his progress.
"I can't be any more happy where I am," he said. "It will always be nice to be higher, but I'm healthy, I'm feeling confident, I have a great team. I'm enjoying everything, and I think that's so much fun to come to these slams and compete."
Norrie acknowledged the challenge of sustaining his level against elite opponents. "For him, I think it's normal, and for me I'm feeling like I'm pushing, pushing, pushing. Then I drop a little bit, and then, boom, it's match done very quickly. It's a lot of credit to him, but I think I can take a lot from this match."
