Cameron Norrie believes he is good enough to crack the world’s top 10 again after a valiant defeat to Alexander Zverev at the Australian Open.
The British No 1 lost a final-set tiebreaker to sixth seed Zverev on Monday as his hopes of a first Melbourne quarter-final were dashed.
Norrie, who struggled for form at the end of the 2023 season, was ranked 22nd heading into the tournament but has been as high as eighth, back in 2022, the year he made the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The 19th seed told reporters: “I think there’s lots to come. I’m still 28 years old. If you look at the longevity of the other players playing now, I think they’re getting better.
Norrie won the second and fourth sets before being beaten 10-3 in the deciding tie-breaker
“I just want to keep learning, keep pushing, keep improving. I know I’ve got the top-10 level in me. I want to just take steps towards that.
“I think Sascha [Zverev] is probably one of the best players in the world at the moment. Playing close with him, somewhat deep in a Grand Slam, losing in five sets, a few points in it, I think it’s exactly where I want to be.
“I can take a lot of confidence from that. It’s disappointing but I was toe-to-toe with him. I got absolutely chopped by him last year [6-2 6-4 in Vienna] and I managed to take a completely different approach.”
Norrie: Zverev played a more complete match than me
Norrie, who had failed to take a set off Zverev in their previous four meetings on the ATP Tour, added: “There was nothing in the match. I thought it was a high-level match from both sides [and] I fought hard right until the end.
“He was just a bit more solid than me in the end and served a bit better down the stretch. He was a bit more aggressive, a bit more physical than I was in that tiebreak. I think that was the difference.
Zverev will face second seed Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals
“I think he did a really good job. He scrapped really hard. Credit to him – I think he played a more complete match than me. I dropped in stages and he basically stayed the same throughout.”
Norrie did not rush to the net as frequently as he did during his victory over 11th seed Casper Ruud on Saturday but still played attacking tennis.
He claimed many points with drop shots as he won the second and fourth sets and took the fifth all the way, only for that stroke to let him down in the tie-breaker.
Norrie said: “If you look at the best players in the world, they’re always changing things and looking for ways to win points and just add things to their game. I’m always looking to do that in the offseason.
“I think there’s still a lot of work to do and a lot of upside. I think it’s just a lot of learning when you are doing those plays and using the drop shot or coming forward.”
Ball kids clean up paper that was thrown onto Margaret Court Arena by a protester
Zverev criticises security personnel after protest
The match was briefly interrupted in the third set by a protester, who threw flyers onto the court from the front row of Margaret Court Arena before being forcibly escorted away by two spectators.
Norrie said he was not “threatened” by the incident but Zverev criticised the lack of response from security personnel, saying: “They wouldn’t let me into the gym because I forgot my credential in the locker room. What are you doing? You’re protecting players from players.
“Something like this happens and it takes three, four minutes for somebody to show up. I think that should be the opposite. I think, when something like this happens, it shouldn’t be another fan dragging the other person out.”
Organisers defended the handling of the incident, saying: “As soon as the behaviour was identified and reported, venue security was deployed to detain the individual.
“The individual was subsequently evicted from the event. Two patrons were active in notifying security and stopping the protester, and we appreciate their actions.”