The in-form Cameron Norrie has much to thank the former world No 1 for as they prepare to meet in Cincinnati
Many years ago, during the 2017 edition of the pre‑Wimbledon tournament at Queen’s Club, Cameron Norrie was in the midst of taking his first small step towards the top levels of professional tennis after college when he was granted a rare privilege. For the first time in his life, he had been drafted as a practice partner for the great Andy Murray. As an inexperienced wildcard about to meet the No 1 player in the world, he did not know what to do.
“He came up to me and introduced himself, which I thought was extremely humble of him and nice,” Norrie recalled, smiling. “I think I was practising with him later that week or in the afternoon. I was pretty tight: ‘Do I go and say hi to him or not? Does he even know who I am?’ I thought it was very cool that he came up to me and introduced himself. I practised with him that week and then, obviously, we’ve practised a lot in the last couple of years.”