Cameron Norrie says he is not carrying the weight of his French Open withdrawal into Wimbledon and believes his body and tennis are in a good place as the year’s most important week for him approaches.
The British number one retired mid-match at Roland Garros last month, pulling out of his opening round contest after 79 minutes while managing a rib injury. It was only the second time in his professional career he had left the court without completing a match, the first coming more than a decade ago on the lowest rung of the professional circuit. The decision was made despite being fit enough to begin the match, reflecting a judgment call about long-term availability rather than an inability to continue.
Building back toward his best
Norrie’s return to competition came at Queen’s Club earlier this month, where he lost in his opening match. He acknowledged afterward that he had not felt the competitive sharpness he wanted in that contest and that something was missing from the hunger and fight he expects of himself. It was a candid self-assessment from a player known for his intensity on the court, and it set the tone for an honest evaluation of where his preparation stands.
A loss to the world’s top-ranked player in an exhibition event in west London on Wednesday gave him another data point, but the match also left him feeling better about his physical condition. He described a sustained dialogue with his coaching team over recent weeks about what matters most for his career at this stage, what his goals are, and how to channel the right mindset into competition. The process of having those conversations, he suggested, has been clarifying rather than unsettling.
Why Wimbledon matters differently
Norrie reached the Wimbledon semifinals four years ago, the deepest run of his career in a Grand Slam, and the grass-court major at the All England Club holds a particular place in his professional calendar. He described the weeks before the tournament as the best time of the year and noted that he tends to feel unusually relaxed and at ease in the days leading up to the event, a quality he attributed partly to the setting and partly to something he cannot fully explain.
That natural comfort with the tournament environment is an asset he wants to actively translate into competitive intensity once matches begin. His goal is not simply to arrive feeling calm but to carry that feeling into each point and each game with the kind of hunger that produces results rather than solid but ultimately passive tennis.
He was measured but clear about where he thinks his level is right now, noting that his practice sessions have been progressing well and that the trajectory of his preparation feels like the right one heading into Monday’s start.
What Norrie is chasing at SW19
The British number one wants to go further than he did in 2022, which means making it past the semifinals and into the final or beyond. That ambition requires sustaining the kind of form that has eluded him at times during a truncated lead-up defined by injury and uneven results. Whether the conversations with his team have produced the clarity and focus he needs to compete over two weeks at the highest level of the sport will become clear once competition begins.
Wimbledon starts June 29. For Norrie, the preparation work is done. Now comes the part he says he has always felt most at home for.
