NZ-raised Cameron Norrie stuns 12th seed in Wimbledon upset
Norrie is now ranked 61, lost in the first round of both his warm-up events, and had never previously beaten a top-20 player at Wimbledon. But that mattered little as the British No. 3 came back from losing the first set to win 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-5.
"I'm enjoying my tennis more than ever. It was really nice coming up to get into the top 10 but it's just tough, really tough, to stay there," Norrie said.
"It's nice to hunt the other guys. I was coming into the match today against Frances, being the underdog, playing for free.
"It was a lot easier than in the past when I previously played Frances. I was the highest-seeded player, and the pressure was on me."
ADVERTISEMENT
Champ ends British student's Wimbledon fairy tale
There are students everywhere at Wimbledon. Serving in the restaurants, watering the plants, helping out in the media centre. It's a much sought-after summer job.
Among those working here is Oliver Tarvet from St Albans, an ancient town just north of London, who is back home for the holidays from the University of San Diego.
Majoring in communications, with a minor in marketing, he will certainly have a story to tell and sell when he returns to California for his final year.
Tarvet, 21, has a different role from most students at Wimbledon. He's actually playing, and on Wednesday he found himself centre stage on Centre Court enjoying a fairytale beyond imagination.
The world No.733 was given a wildcard into qualifying, unexpectedly parlayed that into a main draw place, then won his opening round match against 117-ranked Leonardo Riedi to earn an encounter with defending champ and world No.2 Carlos Alacaraz on the sport's most famous court.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain and Oliver Tarvet of Britain, right, ishake hands after their second round men's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London. (Source: Associated Press)
ADVERTISEMENT
That's where the dream ended, the Spaniard winning 6-1 6-4 6-4, except it didn't, really. Tarvet winning nine games was some achievement, and one in which every point was roared on by the home crowd.
In the first set, he forced eight break points. In the second, he took one to go 2-0 up, repeating the feat to lead 3-2 in the third. Alcaraz, obviously, prevailed in the end, but Tarvet looks to be a name to remember.
Elsewhere, rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca was overcome with emotion after beating Jenson Brooksby 6-4 5-7 6-2 6-4. The teenager was noisily supported by his compatriots as he became the first Brazilian man to reach the third round since Thomaz Bellucci in 2010.
"It's something to be proud of," said Fonseca, who is playing in his fourth tour-level event on grass. "I'm very happy the way that I've developed on this surface, I'm evolving. So I'm happy with it."
Russian seeds Andrey Rublev (14) and Karen Khachanov (17) both came back from dropping the opening set to win, defeating South African Lloyd Harris and Japan's Shintaro Mochizuki in four and five sets respectively.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Otago Daily Times
2 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Nuggets missing star import for final games
Don Carey. PHOTO: ODT FILES The Otago Nuggets are looking to "finish off with a fight". The Nuggets wrap up their NBL season with a double-header on the road. They play the Taranaki Airs tonight followed by the Manawatu Jets on Sunday. However, they will be without American import Don Carey jun, who has returned home for personal reasons. He as been their most productive scorer, averaging 22.4 points. "He's been really good with us this whole year," coach Mike Kelly said. "We'll miss him, but more opportunity for some of our young guys to step into bigger roles." Noah McDowall will travel with the team in the place of Carey jun. "That's the opportunity," Kelly said. "I see Caleb Smiler getting some more minutes at the point, along with Darcy Knox, and then Michael Ruske being able to step up and play a few more minutes." The Nuggets have had a tough season — as indicated by their 2-16 record — and have been a mixed bag against their final two opponents. They beat the Jets 108-104 on March 27 and lost 92-78 to the Airs on June 7. The Airs are third with a record of 11-8, while the Jets dropped their last game and have slipped outside the playoffs to seventh with a record of 9-10. Kelly said both teams had plenty to play for, making for big encounters. "Two good competitive teams, and really strong, and talented, so it's exciting to get to finish off with a fight. "We have two good games against these guys. "The Airs, more recently, we lost at home. We were great for three and a-half quarters and then they finished us off. "The Jets, we were able to get at their place early in the season." It has been a frustrating season for the Nuggets, who appear to stick with teams for the opening three quarters then drop off in the last. But Kelly said they had been "more up and down" across the first three quarters. "If we were just more consistent throughout then we'd be going into these fourth quarters with six to eight-point leads, instead of down six and fighting back to make it a two-point game. "It's been more the inconsistency throughout the whole games, but it shows up at the end, you know. "You might have to fight the whole time just to get back to and even spot and then you don't have enough gas to get over the line."
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Big night looms for Otago's new All Blacks
Dunedin is gearing up to host the first All Blacks test of the year and local fans are confident the home side can take care of a depleted French team in Ōtepoti. A couple of local players will also debut at a soldout Forsyth Barr Stadium, making the occasion even more special for them and their families. Kings High School rugby players performed a stirring haka to welcome a trio of All Blacks to their school for some skills and drills, with the teenagers happy to come to college in the holidays for the chance to meet the players. One of those players was uncapped Hurricanes loose forward Du Plessis Kirifi, who will make his All Blacks debut from the bench. Du Plessis Kirifi will make his All Blacks debut against France in Dunedin. Photo: Brett Phibbs / "It's good to see so many smiling boys and they are very skilful as well," he said. "It's nice to be back here [at a high school], giving back to the community. It's been a big week of that, which has been nice. "It's been reminding us all where we came from." Kirifi is one of four debutants , alongside prop Ollie Norris, No.8 Christian Lio-Willie and lock Fabian Holland, with the latter pair both starting. Christian Lio-Willie in action for the Crusaders. Photo: Iain McGregor/ActionPress Lio-Willie was initially only in the squad as cover , before he was called up to replace the injured Wallace Sititi, and he never expected to start in Dunedin. "Heck no, no way," he said. "When I saw my name on that screen, I just sort of numbed out. "Don't even know [who] the second half of the team was. It's pretty awesome." While he plays Super Rugby Pacific for the Crusaders, Lio-Willie represents Otago in NPC and plays club rugby for Kaikorai in Māori Hill. He will become the 15th All Black from the club. "Kaikorai is a huge part of my journey," he said. "The coach at the time, Ryan Martin, came up to Auckland, when I was at school, Massey High, and he is the one that got me down here. "I played all of my club footy for them. I love my footy down here, and the club culture and everything. "I'm one away from 50 [games] for the club. It's a pretty special place." All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei'aho takes young rugby players through some drills. Photo: Joe Porter/RNZ Lio-Willie looks forward to making his international debut alongside Otago teammate and Highlanders lock Fabian Holland in Dunedin. "We both had our first starting debut together at Forsyth Barr and it's sort of a full circle moment to be able to debut together for the All Blacks in Dunedin again," Lio-Willie said. "I've still got a lot of friends and loved ones down here that have been supporting me since day one, so I'm just keen to go out there and make them proud." Dunedin schoolboys Isaac, Jai and Mason were at the skills session, and will cheer for Holland and Lio-Willie. Dunedin schoolboys Isaac, Jai and Mason will be cheering on the late All Black debutants. Photo: Joe Porter/RNZ The trio are confident the All Blacks can get the job done against an inexperienced France team that contain eight debutants . "We'll win easy, yeah easy win, easy win," they said. "We're way better than them. I think the score will be 100-0 to the All Blacks." Holland, who moved to New Zealand as a teenager to chase his All Blacks dream, will also have plenty of family and friends in his adopted city supporting him. Fabian Holland in action for the Highlanders. Photo: Steve McArthur All Blacks coach Scott Robertson said the 22-year-old lock was over the moon, when he found out he would start. "From Zealand to New Zealand, he's come a long way," Robertson said. "It's a great story. "He's pretty singleminded to make that call to come over and represent another country in the game he loves, and he saw the All Blacks as the ultimate. "It's movie sort of stuff, isn't it?" Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
First All Black test of the season approaches
Scott Robertson has named an intriguing side to take on France under the roof at Forsyth Barr Stadium. One day out from the first All Black test of the season and one debutant cutting his teeth this weekend has revealed a surprising skill. Sports reporter Jamie Wall spoke to Lisa Owen. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
