British star Norrie continues Wimbledon journey after beating Johnson

British star Cameron Norrie continues his Wimbledon journey after beating American Steve Johnson 6-4 6-1 6-0… as the ninth seed books his place in fourth round for the first time in his career

• Cameron Norrie secured his spot in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Friday 
• The British star beat American Steve Johnson 6-4 6-1 6-0 to progress  
• The tournament’s ninth seed will face World No. 32 Tommy Paul in next round

First time on Centre Court and first time into the fourth round of a Slam. Cameron Norrie hasn’t torn up any of the larger trees at these Championships, but he is breaking new ground and winning new admirers.

Never before in 18 previous Slams had he ventured beyond three matches, but in assuming vanguard responsibilities for British tennis he is getting rather good value out of a gentle draw and some exciting possibilities.

He has earned those favourable circumstances after a few notable first-week stinkers, but it is one thing to have kind fortune and quite another to use it. He is. To see him pull apart Steve Johnson on the grandest stage of these grounds was to see the 26-year-old relishing such an opportunity.

British star Cameron Norrie secured his spot in the fourth round of Wimbledon on Friday

The tournament’s ninth seed beat America’s Steve Johnson 6-4 6-1 6-0 on Centre Court

The question from here is how well he can grasp those that remain, because they are considerable. It isn’t lost on Norrie that he has got this far without facing a seed, albeit with the struggles of a five-setter in the second round, and moving onwards his opponent for the last 16 is the 30th-ranked Tommy Paul. Get through that and the highest he can face before the semi-finals would be the 23rd seed Frances Tiafoe.

Norrie isn’t the sort for rash proclamations of intent, and that never has been his way during 18 months on the most wonderful trajectory from world No 74 to the ninth seed at Wimbledon. But for all his modesty, the rest of us can recognise there are some roads that are treacherous and grim, and others that look inviting. If his game is up to it, he could really enjoy this walk, especially as his first appearance on Centre Court indicated he is the kind who responds well to a crowd with home interests.

In discussing his first trip to the last 16 of a Slam, he said: ‘It feels really good, especially to do it here at Wimbledon. First time in the second week – I couldn’t be more happy. It is good timing. I enjoyed that.

‘I am enjoying improving and it has been a lot of fun. I want to keep going and ticking all boxes. I am as ready as I can be. I have trained hard and I have peaked at the right time.’

Norrie claims that he has ‘peaked at the right time’ following his impressive Wimbledon run

Within all that, Norries remains something of an enigma. Try to pick out the strengths of his weaponry and you will struggle to point to any one stroke – he neither does anything spectacularly well and he certainly does nothing that is spectacularly terrible. He simply gets it back until the other guy cannot.

Of course, there is likely a natural ceiling to how far those traits can carry you, especially against the game’s biggest beasts, but it has already been good enough for four Tour titles – two this year – and against Johnson it was more than enough.

As with so many matches lately in this famous arena, Norrie walked on to a court surrounded predominantly by empty seats. Possibly it told of indifference to an emerging force of British sport, but more likely it played to the general trend of folk preferring another glass on a sunny day.

With Norrie, it is rare that what you miss in such moments will be explosive. In what was a low-grade opening set, the closest Norrie came to any bother was slipping to 0-30 on his serve at 4-4, whereas opportunities were plenty when he had ball in hand.

Steve Johnson (pictured) simply couldn’t get the better of the British star on Centre Court

In each of the fourth, sixth and 10th games he worked his way to 15-40 on the American’s serve, before finally getting one to count at set point when he chased down a drop shot and steered a backhand up the line for 6-4.

By then the crowd had filled in. Some called out ‘Come on, Andy’, others went with ‘Come on, Tim’, and perhaps he will make his own name before long. They certainly liked the second set, in which he faced more jeopardy – Johnson held break points in the first game and also at 3-1 down – but Norrie was on a stroll.

After breaking in the second, he did so again for 5-1 before closing out with a winner. He was only averaging eight of those per set, but again, dynamite isn’t his tool of choice.

Through the third set, he got three further breaks, chipping away as he went. As he went to serve on match point, he was interrupted by a declaration of love from the crowd. With that in his sails, he served it out. With more of that, it could get louder still.

Norrie has set up a fourth round encounter with another American, Tommy Paul (above)

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