British tennis star Cameron Norrie is set to undergo a scan in London for a rib injury that forced him to withdraw from the French Open, but he remains optimistic about his chances of competing at Wimbledon this summer.
Rare retirement at Roland Garros
The British number one retired mid-match during his opening round at Roland Garros, only the second such instance in his professional career. Norrie, 30, had previously disclosed he was struggling with an inflamed joint in his rib ahead of the tournament. He ultimately pulled out after 78 minutes, trailing Paraguayan Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 7-6 (7) 2-0. This marks a rare occurrence for Norrie, whose only other mid-match retirement came 12 years ago on the Futures Tour, the lowest tier of professional tennis.
Norrie's frustration and pain
“It’s a tough feeling right now,” he said. “I thought I would be ready but it was obviously too soon. I think I was just a little bit mentally tired, not having the ability mentally to put the pain away, the pain aside, and just play point for point. I know I’m playing so well, so that was even more frustrating, and even at 20 per cent today I was able to compete with the guy. I thought I was feeling better this morning when I woke up and when the match started it was just a lot of distraction on every shot. So it was tough.”
Norrie has been the most dependable British player of the past five years and would have fancied his chances of doing well here as the 20th seed and with a favourable draw. He also reached the fourth round in Paris last year but he was only able to practice for the first time here on Sunday and began to look increasingly uncomfortable as the contest wore on.
Match details and decision to retire
Norrie should have won the first set having led 5-1 in the tie-break and with four set points but he could not take any of them and then had his serve broken in the opening game of the second set. At that point, Norrie, who had been talking animatedly with his team, sought advice from the doctor but he completed only one more game before deciding to call it a day.
With the grass season only a week away, Norrie was concerned about potentially risking a longer absence from the tour by struggling on. He will get the injury checked again in London on Wednesday, and admitted he may not make the ATP event in the Netherlands beginning on June 8, but is confident of playing in the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club the following week.
Looking ahead to Wimbledon
“That will be my goal,” said Norrie. “And I’m really excited to go play. So we just need to go mentally switch off and do the test tomorrow, get through that, and then just enjoy a week doing what I want. And just recharge the batteries a lot. Maybe it’s good timing. I can get a chance to rest.”
