Norrie sees off ace-monster Jarry in thriller to reach last eight
LONDON - Briton Cameron Norrie came through a severe mental and physical examination from big-serving Nicolas Jarry to beat the Chilean 6-3 7-6(4) 6-7(7) 6-7(5) 6-3 in a classic match under the roof on Court One to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on Sunday.
Norrie, the world number 61, a semi-finalist in 2022 and now the last home player left in the tournament, looked set for a routine victory when he had match point in the third-set tiebreak, but Jarry refused to buckle.
He saved it and won the set, took the next in another tiebreak, before Norrie, who did not drop serve all match, made an early breakthrough in the fifth and held on for a superb win.
"I just had to keep fighting," said Norrie.
"I was thinking I should have gone T (with his serve) for about for about an hour and then he hung in there. I just wanted to keep taking care of my serve and I did that and I hung tough when I needed to."
Jarry trailed Holger Rune by two sets in the first round, having gone out at the same stage in six previous slams, but he is delighted to be back playing after suffering with vestibular neuritis, a nerve condition that causes severe vertigo and dizziness.
Norrie, scampering for everything, grabbed the key break of serve in the first set and the Briton took the second in a tiebreak. He had a match point in the third after a Jarry double fault, but the Chilean followed that with an ace and took the set at the first opportunity.
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The 6ft 7ins (201cm) Jarry, who had got past the third round of a Grand Slam only once before, forced a third successive tiebreak, which he secured with an ace, one of 46 on Sunday that extended his tournament-leading tally to 111.
Norrie finally found a way to break for a 2-0 lead in the decisive set and saved three break points – making it eight saved out of eight in the match - in the 10-minute next game and marched to his chair with a 3-0 lead and the crowd roaring.
He saw out the remainder of the set without major drama, and his reward is a quarter-final against either defending champion Carlos Alcaraz or Andrey Rublev.
"At the beginning of this year I was I was struggling a little bit with confidence, I had some doubts, and I just wanted to enjoy my tennis a little bit more and I'm doing that," Norrie said.
"It was a bonus to win but I'm more happy that I was enjoying it, but what a battle and I'm so happy to be through to another quarter-final here at the best tournament in the world." REUTERS
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