Norrie returns to favourite Wimbledon stage to stun Tiafoe
Court One might lack the aura of the All England Club's historic Centre Court, but Norrie loves it, having won three matches there during his semi-final run in 2022.
Norrie's ranking has slipped to 61 and he lost in the first round of both his warm-up events on grass, but after an excursion on Court 18 on Monday he was back on the sleek 12,345 arena for his clash with Tiafoe.
Initially it was the free-hitting Tiafoe who looked right at home, taking a tight opening set with a single break of serve.
But everything changed at the end of the second.
Norrie found himself in big trouble when serving at 4-4, going down 0-40. But he reeled off five points in a row and broke in the next game with a superb backhand winner to snatch the set.
Left-hander Norrie, who had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon, bristled with energy in the third set, dictating the points as Tiafoe began to fade.
Norrie failed to capitalise on one break of serve as he allowed Tiafoe to reply, but another break proved decisive as he moved to within one set of victory.
Tiafoe left the court for seven minutes for a bathroom break before the start of the fourth set but Norrie refused to be put off his stride and broke serve for a 4-3 lead.
Again Tiafoe managed to respond, but Norrie was relentless as he again pounced on the American's serve before completing victory to reach the Wimbledon third round for the fourth time.
Tiafoe's exit means 14 of the 32 men's seeds are out of the tournament less than halfway through the first week.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
an hour ago
- CNA
Osaka ready to spread her grasscourt wings after being paralysed by fear
LONDON :After years of having a rather a strained relationship with Wimbledon thanks to being "paralysed by fear" at the thought of playing on tennis's fastest surface, Naomi Osaka feels she has finally found her grasscourt wings. The Japanese player, who has won all four of her Grand Slam titles on the hardcourts of Melbourne Park and Flushing Meadows, has never found her comfort zone on the green, green grass of Wimbledon, making only four previous appearances during her 10-year professional career. During those four visits to the All England Club, she won a total of just five matches, with third-round showings in 2017 and 2018 her standout performances - hardly anything to shout about for a woman who has been ranked on top of the world. But after matching her best ever Wimbledon showing on Wednesday with an impressive 6-3 6-2 win over Czech Katerina Siniakova, who has won the Wimbledon women's doubles title three times, Osaka feels she has finally overcome the fear factor on grass. "When I was younger, I had no fear. I think when you are young, you fear nothing, and that's one of the really cool things about it," explained Osaka, now ranked 53 as she continues to try to recapture her best form after taking a maternity break in 2023. "But with age fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralysed me in a way. Now I'm kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass. "I think it is working, and I think I am moving pretty well. Yeah, I just hope that in years to come and hopefully this year I can do a lot better in this tournament." Osaka could not have picked a better year to enjoy a deep run at the tournament. Following the carnage of seeds over the first three days, the highest seeds she could meet before a potential semi-final against either world number one Aryna Sabalenka or Australian Open champion Madison Keys are number 13 Amanda Anisimova or number 30 Linda Noskova - neither of whom are known for their grasscourt pedigree. After two straight-set victories, she will certainly fancy her chances of defeating Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to reach the last 16 here for the first time, considering the Russian has not beaten her since 2017. "Definitely this year I feel a lot more comfortable moving on grass," said Osaka after improving her Wimbledon win-loss record to 7-4 on the day her daughter Shai was celebrating her second birthday. "I know the last couple of years I was really scared to move because when I was younger, I strained my knee or whatever. It took a couple of years to get over that but I definitely feel a lot more comfortable."
CNA
3 hours ago
- CNA
Just frustration: Piastri explains radio cursing at Alpine
LONDON :McLaren's Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri said cursing at former employers Alpine over the radio at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix was just a humorous way of expressing his frustration. The Australian made a comment after having to go off track to avoid Renault-owned Alpine's Argentine driver Franco Colapinto. "Alpine still managed to find a way to (expletive) me over all these years later, huh?," he told race engineer Tom Stallard in an exchange not broadcast on television at the time. Piastri told Reuters at a McLaren fan event in London's Trafalgar Square on Wednesday that his swearing had just been spur of the moment. "It was just kind of a frustrating coincidence. My qualifying got hampered by an Alpine. I got impeded in the race by both the Alpines. So, it was kind of just a build-up of a few things," he said. "And it was more out of frustration. "I still have a lot of friends at Alpine. A lot of people that I respect a lot. "It was just kind of an ironic coincidence that the things that hampered me a bit in the weekend were all with Alpine. But, yeah - more just me trying to express my humour and frustration in the race." Piastri joined McLaren after being named by Alpine as their driver for 2023, only for the Australian to very publicly reject the seat with a statement that has become part of Formula One lore. Then Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer questioned the driver's integrity, and threatened legal action, but McLaren won easily when the matter went to the contract recognition board. Alpine are now last in the championship, and are still going through turmoil, while McLaren won the constructors' title last year and are runaway favourites again.
Straits Times
3 hours ago
- Straits Times
Former finalist Paolini stunned at Wimbledon; Raducanu, Osaka go through
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox LONDON - Last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini joined the exodus of fancied players at this year's Wimbledon after the Italian fourth seed crashed out 4-6 6-4 6-4 against Russian Kamilla Rakhimova on July 2. The ever-smiling Paolini's sunshine tennis lit up the All England Club during her run to the title clash last year but the 29-year-old cut a grim figure in the final set of her clash with Rakhimova on a shadowy Court Three. Paolini, who was similarly dragged the distance in her opening victory over Anastasija Sevastova, was unable to muster the fight needed to quell the challenge of the unseeded Rakhimova and let her opponent build a 4-2 lead in the decider. Rakhimova, enjoying her best run at the grasscourt Grand Slam, edged closer to victory when Paolini sent a shot long at the baseline in the final game and the 23-year-old wrapped up her first top-10 win on her fourth match point. Paolini's exit means only one of the top five women's seeds - world number one Aryna Sabalenka - will be in the third round. It is only the second time that this has happened in the professional era after Wimbledon 2018. 'It was a tough one. I'm still thinking about the second set. I could do much better. I had many, many chances, I did some stupid mistakes,' Paolini said. 'I need to stay there mentally much better. My attention was going up and down all the time. I don't know why.' In later matches, Britain's Emma Raducanu defeated Czech Marketa Vondrousova 6-3 6-3 in the second round, while unseeded four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka of Japan eased past Czech doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Singapore and Cambodia to expand collaboration in renewable energy, carbon markets and agri-trade World Trump announces Vietnam trade deal with 20% import tariff Singapore From camping to mentorship, Singapore Scouts mark 115th anniversary of the youth movement Singapore Ong Beng Seng's court hearing rescheduled one day before he was expected to plead guilty World Sean 'Diddy' Combs convicted on prostitution counts but cleared of more serious charges Singapore Teen, 17, to be charged with allegedly trespassing on MRT tracks Singapore Granddaughter of Hin Leong founder O.K. Lim fails to keep 3 insurance policies from creditors' reach Singapore Man on trial for raping drunken woman after offering to drive her and her friend home Wimbledon 2023 champion Vondrousova had arrived at the All England Club fresh from winning the grasscourt title in Berlin, with victories over Australian Open champion Madison Keys and world number one Aryna Sabalenka en route. But it was Raducanu whose game sparkled on Centre Court as she produced the kind of carefree, yet potent, shots that had carried her to the US Open title in 2021. 'Today, I played really, really well. There were some points that I have no idea how I turned around,' a delighted Raducanu told the crowd. 'I knew playing Marketa was going to be an incredibly difficult match. She has won this tournament which is a huge achievement. I'm really pleased with how I played my game the whole way through.' REUTERS
