Good morning! Hello and welcome to coverage of Cameron Norrie’s fourth round match at the Australian Open against Alexander Zverev.
This is unchartered territory for Norrie as it is the first time he’s reached the second week in Melbourne but he earned his place with a brilliant performance and victory over Casper Ruud in the previous round.
Having struggled during the second half of last season, Norrie appears rejuvenated and he said: “Even just being in the second week for the first time in Australia, never done that. It means a lot to do that and start the year playing some good tennis.
“I think it just helped having a good break and a really good off-season to put a lot of time on the court and get better as a player.
“I think it just comes down to how can you play the biggest points the best and feeling calm and feeling good about yourself. I have done that, and I was feeling that coming into the season.
“I want to keep going. I know it just gets tougher. Next match is going to be tougher.”
Zverev has beaten Norrie on each of the four previous occasions they have played without dropping a set.
He had a sneak peek at Norrie’s new attacking tactics when they trained together during pre-season and the German said: “I actually thought he played exactly what he was working on in the off-season.
“We obviously spent the off-season together in Monaco, so I’ve seen him every single day. This is exactly what he was working on.”
He continued: “When you think of Cameron Norrie, you normally think of somebody who grinds a lot, a big fighter. But in the off-season he really worked on his game and he really worked on the aggressive style of play. He really worked on coming forward.
“It was very noticeable in December, and you can see it on the court now. The work is paying off for him.”