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Cameron Norrie: How British player became a Wimbledon semi-finalist

Cameron Norrie

Cameron Norrie is the ninth seed at Wimbledon
Venue: All England Club Dates: 27 June-10 July
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Cameron Norrie has become just the fourth British man to reach the Wimbledon-semi-finals in the Open era.

We take a look at the journey that has taken him there.

New Zealand’s loss is Britain’s gain

Norrie, who has a Scottish dad and Welsh mum, was born in South Africa and brought up in New Zealand.

As a youngster, Norrie represented New Zealand but despite reaching 10 in the world junior rankings he was overlooked for funding and, at the time, his mum said the family had been “very disappointed” with Tennis New Zealand’s support of him.

So at 17, the left-hander decided to play for Britain because of the better funding opportunities.

New Zealand newspapers have often called him “the one who got away” – an observation that has only got louder with every new milestone in Norrie’s career.

It will be deafening if he goes all the way at Wimbledon.

Living a ‘normal life’ at college

When Norrie made his professional debut in 2017 as a 22-year-old, he had three years of college life studying sociology at Texas Christian University behind him.

He told BBC Sport that it had given him the chance to mature and “have more of a normal life”, rather than going down the route of travelling the world by himself at the age of 17 on one of the tours.

He said college tennis allowed him to have “a decent social life” and interests outside tennis, which gave him a good balance and a greater sense of perspective.

That is not to say tennis is not his number one priority now – he is clear that it is, telling reporters after his quarter-final win that he puts it first and has not had a holiday for a long time.

But he says it was his time in college that has made him “pretty focused and pretty composed” on the court. And he is, this is not a racquet-smashing player.

The moped crash that was the ‘turning point’

While at college, he had a moped crash that he says was a “turning point” in his life.

“In the fall of my sophomore year at TCU, after a standard Thursday night out at the bars, I made my way back to my dorm,” he wrote on behindtheraquet.com.external-link “We all had a pretty big night and definitely a couple too many.

“I decided to drive my moped to my girlfriend’s place, who I was dating at the time. I didn’t even make it 20 metres when I ended up falling off and…

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