CAMERON NORRIE struggled into the Wimbledon quarter finals after a four-hour, five-set slogfest that saw his opponent Nicolas Jarry go on a TOPLESS rant to the umpire then square up to Norrie at the end.
Norrie, 29, beat towering Chilean qualifier Jarry 6-3 7-6 6-7 6-7 6-3 on Court One in four hours and 27 minutes to remain the only male Brit still in the competition.
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It was the longest match of Norrie’s professional career, and just the fifth time he had played in a contest that lasted over four hours, celebrating by lying on the floor with his tongue out.
The South African-born player also became just the fourth British man in the Open Era to reach the last eight at Wimbledon on multiple occasions, joining the likes of Andy Murray, Tim Henman and Roger Taylor.
Winning his ninth match in ten No1 Court outings, Norrie now has the chance to match his best run at SW19 after reaching the semis in 2022.
It was not a convincing display, with Norrie relying on 143-ranked Jarry to constantly make mistakes to avoid his serve being broken.
But Jarry appeared to be irate about the time Norrie took between his serves, and let rip at the umpire without his shirt on during a break between the second and third set.
At the end of the match, Jarry then squared up to Norrie and carried on complaining before storming off the court.
The Chilean moaned to the umpire: “What is the rule? It is your interpretation, it isn’t good. Is it normal to do that when it affects the other player? Do you intervene or do I have to suck it?
“It doesn’t matter the reason. It’s not intentional but you have to apply the code. He can stop doing it, it is not a nervous tick, it is something he can control. That doesn’t make it correct.
“I just have to suck it because he always does it? That’s the reason I have to play with something that affects me. It can be changed.
“If there is not a rule then tell me and I cannot do anything about it.”
Norrie will not be bothered, but he knows he must up his game if he is to seriously compete for the top gong next weekend.
Norrie came into this clash full of confidence, while Jarry was also in fine form off the back of six straight wins.
Chilean Jarry – standing at 6ft7 – was at a career-high No.16 in the PIF ATP Rankings as recently as May 2024, but struggled over the past 12 months after being diagnosed with vestibular neuritis, an inner ear disorder caused by a viral infection.
He is slowly getting back to his best, and proved that in the first set with a run of stunning 130mph aces that Norrie struggled to deal with.
The pivotal moment came in the eighth game as Norrie finally broke Jarry’s serve to go 5-3 up before sealing the first set.
Norrie has lost a Grand Slam match to a player ranked as low as No. 143 Jarry twice before, both at Roland Garros – to No. 273 Elliot Benchetrit in the 1st round in 2019 and to No. 153 Daniel Elahi Galan in the 1st round in 2020.
He was determined not to let that happen a third time, but Norrie continued to slog his way through the second set, preferring to let Jarry make mistakes rather than take the initiative himself.
Midway through the second set, Jarry had 20 winners and 20 unforced errors. Norrie in comparison had just seven winners and five unforced errors.
Still, Norrie’s cautious approach worked as he prevailed in a tie-break that was gift-wrapped once again by Jarry’s sloppiness.
Jarry continued to push – his impressive service game forcing Norrie to 5-5 in the decisive third set before edging a 7-6 tie-break win that suggested this would go the distance.
A carbon-copy fourth set and third successive tie-break saw Jarry push Norrie to his limits again to level the match at 2-2, Norrie this time the one making the mistakes.
Norrie finally got some momentum in the fifth, breaking Jarry to go 2-0 up before nicking a gruelling ten-minute third game to take it to 3-0 then serving it out.
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