Carlos Alcaraz says 'I saw him' as late-night Cameron Norrie observation emerges
Cam Norrie faces off against Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in the quarter-finals in SW19 on Tuesday
Cameron Norrie faces Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon in the quarter-finals
(Image: Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images )
Cameron Norrie is still flying the flag for Britain at this year's Wimbledon and he is now set to face the daunting task of Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals.
The defending champion, fresh from his Grand Slam win in Paris last month, will lock horns with Norrie on Centre Court on Tuesday afternoon.
Both players had to dig deep for their place in the last eight, with Norrie seeing off Nicolas Jarry in a four-hour epic on Sunday. There was a bit of needle between the pair too, with an animated handshake taking place after the match concluded.
'For both of us, we really wanted to win the match,' said Norrie. 'Yeah, I think it was obviously frustrating for him to lose. I just told him, 'Man, that was unbelievable level. You competed so well, and I loved the way you kind of responded'.
"It was such a good match. The atmosphere was really good.
'I think he just said I was being a little bit too vocal, but I was aiming directly at my team and pulling from the crowd. The atmosphere of the court was so, so good.
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'Honestly, nothing but credit to Nico for his performance. And to see him not only playing at that level, you know, seeing him enjoying his tennis and coming through quallies so easily and dropping guys, so I wish him all the best.
'I guess we both really wanted to win. It was a huge match, so I can understand where he's coming from.'
Alcaraz, meanwhile, had to come from a set down to beat Andrey Rublev 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-4 6-4 under the lights on Centre Court.
He now faces Norrie, whom he was beaten in four of their six career meetings - although the latter won their most recent battle in the final of the Rio Open in 2023.
The Spaniard says he has already spotted the lengths Norrie is going to to improve his game, catching him practising night and day at Queen's recently.
'Facing Cam is always really, really difficult,' said Alcaraz. 'We have really difficult battles already.
'For me facing him is almost a nightmare, to be honest. Really tough from the baseline. I'm not surprised he's in the quarter-final playing great tennis because I've seen him practicing.
'When he lost at Queen's, he stayed for five days practising morning, afternoon and night.
"I saw him. So I'm not surprised at all seeing his level.
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"So it's going to be really different.
'He's playing at home, as well, so he's going to use the crowd on his side. I have to be really strong mentally and focused to play good tennis if I want to beat him.'
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