Cameron Norrie looks forward with confidence despite Australian Open exit

Cameron Norrie admitted he came up short after a familiar defeat against Alexander Zverev ended British singles hopes at the Australian Open.

Norrie was the only British player to make the third round and knew he would have his work cut out against third seed Zverev, who has now beaten him in all seven of their tour-level meetings.

Two years ago Norrie pushed the German all the way to a fifth-set tie-break in the last 16 at Melbourne Park, and he gave himself a chance by taking the second set here only to fade badly in a 7-5 4-6 6-3 6-1 defeat.

Norrie’s game plan was apparent from the start, the 26th seed stepping into the court and attacking Zverev at every opportunity, but he was unable to sustain the level he needed.

“I thought the level was really good,” said Norrie. “First three sets, very good. There was maybe a slight dip in that third set, but it was kind of constant pressure, I thought, in all departments of the game.

“He was serving well, returning well, forehand, backhand, moving, and I had to really take a lot of risks to hang with him.

“And I think I can take a lot of confidence knowing I can play at that level with him, but I dropped off at the beginning of the fourth, for sure. That went very quickly.

“So it was a nice match. I played really well. I enjoyed 95 per cent of it. It was just that beginning of the fourth, though, feeling not so good about that.”

Norrie came out firing and broke Zverev to love in just the second game but the German, who reached his third grand slam final here last year, hit straight back and played a fine returning game to break again for 6-5.

Norrie did not let his head drop and kept Zverev off balance by sprinkling in drop shots and rushes to the net, earning his reward when his opponent netted a tight forehand on set point to make it one-set all.

Parity did not last long, though, a poor service game from the British number two at 1-1 in the third set handing Zverev the initiative again, and from there he tightened his grip.

Norrie denied that the nine sets he had played in the first two rounds had had an effect but Zverev was delayed more by the need to clean seagull droppings off the court than by the British number two in the fourth set.

Norrie is certainly trending in the right direction again, though, despite the defeat and will hope for more luck of the draw in the grand slams to come.

“I’m looking forward to the year, and I want to keep going out there and playing matches like this where I can push myself and challenge these guys,” said the 30-year-old.

It is the second major in a row where Britain has had a first-week wipeout, and Jack Draper’s return – hopefully in the Davis Cup next month alongside Norrie – cannot come soon enough.