“A Nightmare to Play”: Cameron Norrie Envisions Facing Novak Djokovic

In a phenomenal year for the ATP tour where there have been multiple break-through players across the season, Britain’s Cameron Norrie enjoyed fruitful results when he clinched his first-ever Masters 1000 title at Indian Wells last month.

Even before Indian Wells, Norrie made it to the finals at five events (Estoril, Lyon,Cinch championships, Los Cabos, and San Diego). Out of the five matches, the Brit tasted success in Los Cabos open, where he defeated Brandon Nakashima in the final.

Post Indian Wells success, the world no. 12 got the opportunity to become the second alternative at the on-going ATP Finals, after Jannik Sinner gets to be the first choice to replace any injured player.

During the media interaction at Turin, Norrie got candid about all the top-eight players who are playing the year-end championships as he talked about their strengths on-court.

Cameron Norrie is all praise for world no.1, Novak Djokovic

When asked on facing world no.1 Novak Djokovic, Norrie revealed that there was no particular game plan against the Serb as he is exceptional in every aspect of the game.

“I think there’s no real game plan with Novak. He has such a complete game, moves so well, you can’t get the ball past him. I also think his first serve is very underrated. He’s a nightmare to play”.

The Brit, who is yet to face Djokovic on a tour-level match, also rated him as the best mover on tour at the moment.

“He’s pretty good in long rallies and he moves exceptionally well. He’s probably the best mover on Tour and his backhand is insane as well, so it’s tough. He’s a very good player”.

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As narrated by Norrie, it’s evident that every player on the ATP rooster won’t be entirely confident on facing Novak Djokovic, considering the peak form that he is in right now.

Djokovic looks invincible at the moment on the ATP tour

While Djokovic’s technical abilities are on top as always, his ability to take the momentum away from the opponent during matches is an aspect that makes it incredibly difficult to break the Serb.

Even though players like Medvedev managed to find success against Djokovic at the US Open final, the world no.1 entered the match with the huge pressure of having a chance to script history in tennis books.

Post the US Open debacle, it was anticipated that Djokovic would take the season off to comeback strongly at the Australian Open next year. But, he was determined of finishing the year as the no.1 ranked player for a record seventh time.

In doing so, Novak Djokovic surpassed idol Pete Sampras’ record. The 2022 ATP season might witness the Serb break more records as youngsters like Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and others try to stop him from doing so.

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