Cameron Norrie was buoyant in defeat as his impressive Wimbledon run came to an end at the hands of another emphatic Carlos Alcaraz performance on Tuesday.
The 29-year-old enjoyed something of a resurgence in form at the All England Club this month after a testing year in which he missed three months of 2024 through injury before falling to 91st in the world rankings earlier this April.
He had found himself as the last British player standing in the singles draw, toppling a top 12 player in Frances Tiafoe before later coming through a five-set marathon against Nicolas Jarry to reach the final eight.
Norrie, beaten 6-2 6-3 6-3 by back-to-back defending champion Alcaraz, smiled his way through a tournament that could yet prove a turning point in his career.
“I think it’s all kind of coming together,” Norrie told reporters after the match. “I told you guys that I was hitting the ball well all year. I wanted it to happen.
“I think actually winning the matches and actually going through these experiences, you can take so much confidence from this. I want to just continue to play with confidence.
“I feel like I’ve been through a lot of tough moments in this week and a half and a lot of different kind of players and being the favourite, being the underdog in different scenarios.
“I think I’ve tested myself in all different aspects of the game, which is huge. I’ve always come out on the positive side.
“I really feel like I’m enjoying my tennis a lot.”
A prevalent theme to Norrie’s tournament had been a focus on enjoyment, the Brit underlining as much as he threw himself to the floor in celebration after fending off Jarry in the fourth round.
A semi-final spot wasn’t to be as he became the latest, and certainly not the last, to succumb to an Alcaraz masterclass, not that it stopped him from revelling in the heightened spotlight.
“I think there’s a lot of positives,” Norrie continued. “I think most of all was how I went about my business in the tournament, how I enjoyed all the moments, all the different matches.
“I think just so much fun. I felt really free on the court. I think my ability to hold my concentration, especially in that Jarry match where I could have gone away at any moment, I can take so much confidence from that.
“It’s almost like I’d done a mini pre-season in that match. I can take a lot from that match. I know I have the ability to concentrate for that period of time in a best-of-five match. For me, it was a lot of fun.”
Alcaraz, the recently-crowned French Open champion, will now advance to face Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals as he continues his search for a third straight Wimbledon title.
“I think he is the favourite, for sure,” said Norrie. “His level was unreal. I felt like a lot of the time today if I didn’t do enough with the ball, he was going to punish me with a lot of his different options, with power.
“He’s got the drop as well available. So I think I was missing a little bit more because I was pressing a bit more than usual, but I think that’s credit to him, his physicality, his movement and power.
“I think he makes it look quite easy because he’s enjoying it so much. I think he played very well today, but I don’t think it was like ‘I played unreal. I completely maxed out’. I think it was a decent eight out of 10 for him. I see it quite repeatable for him. He’s just got so many options on his different shots.”
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