Cameron Norrie It is another of the proper names of this week. Despite not getting past the round of 16 at the Miami Open 2022 and being defeated in straight sets against Casper Ruud, the Briton has risen to tenth place in the ATP Rankings for the first time in his career. Norrie made a great leap in quality in 2021, a season in which he won the ATP 250 in Los Cabos and the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, and reached four more finals.
This year did not start with the best feelings after losing in the first round of the Australian Open but, after winning in Delray Beach and reaching the final in Acapulcohas managed to materialize one of the goals he had in mind: to enter the select club of the ten best players on the planet.
The tour on land will be a turning point for Norrie
The Briton will have the complicated task in the clay season of staying within the top ten in the world. Ahead of him is Felix Auger-Aliassime with only 185 points, but both will have to be careful with the earthquake that will come from behind. At the gates of the Top-10 will be Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. The Spanish is only 29 points behind the British and he comes at the best moment of his career and with the highest expectations to break a new earliness record. In turn, Sinner, who is less than 400 points, will try to show the best version of himself to reach the Top-10 again.
Norrie will defend a total of 750 points throughout the tour on clay. Last season he reached the final at the ATP 250 in Estoril and Lyon, lost in the second round at the Masters 1000 in Rome and did not go to Monte Carlo or Madrid. At Roland Garros he had the misfortune to meet Rafael Nadal in the third round and could not take more than 90 points. This time, the British will fight to go as far as possible in the four main tournaments that he will play on clay, thus being able to confirm what he has been showing for a year.
However, these next three months may wreak further havoc on Norrie if he doesn’t get a good feeling on the gravel. In case the best of the performances does not materialize, he would see how the young talents overtake him and players like Taylor Fritz or Hubert Hurkacz could approach him before the season on grass.
Situation unthinkable a year ago
Norrie He finished the 2021 Miami Open as number 58 in the world, so it was unthinkable for him to be in this situation twelve months later. His growth since then has been on the rise: he finished Roland Garros in 45th place but his final in Queens and his victory in the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells made him finish the season as 12th in the world. Also, he managed to get into the Nitto ATP Finals after Nadal’s resignation.
The left-hander managed to finish the year in the best possible way, reaching his highest ranking. But the Briton has decided that this is not his ceiling and he will try to continue to be among the best in the coming years, as he already made clear in Indian Wells after losing to Carlos Alcaraz: “I would love to be among the top ten and consolidate myself there in the next ten years and that’s going to be the peak of my career for the next three or four years. I just want to get the best and I want to keep enjoying myself while playing at the level I am at now.”
